Human of Prey
by SilverRyuu
Summary: Joseph, a highschool graduate, is approached to work for InGen as a researcher. Are the people of InGen to be trusted, or do they have a hidden agenda? Supersoldier Fiction. Rated M just incase I get alittle intense.
1. A Job?

Chapter 1: A Job?

A 17 year old walked home from school on his birthday on March 28th, the first signs of summer comming on. His name was Joseph Gallant, but most of his friends called him 'Dino Boy.' The reason for this was that he knew alot about dinosaurs, and his friends made fun of him for it. He wasn't disturbingly overenthusiastic about them, just a side hobby. A few years ago, back when he was 9, he wanted to grow up and be apart of what a large company called InGen was doing in the Pacific. They were making dinosaurs, real dinosaurs! He was pretty excited about it, but soon after, the company went bankrupt and shut down all contact with the two islands they were using down there. The Islands were forbidden from all outside involvement by humans. InGen was done with their dino project, or so the press said. No one knew that they were continuing to research the subject, or at least a related subject.

Well, Joseph's interest in dinosurs slowly deteriorated as he grew older, and by now, it was only a slight interest. His knowledge was still beyond anyone in his class, but that wasn't saying much. Every once in a while, he would do some research on dinos, but not get too far in depth. He read just enough to stay current. His dreams of joining Ingen were gone, but he had other dreams to focus on. He tended to consentrate on running for the track team, as he was their fastest runner. He wanted to be a pilot, so he would graduate, go to college, then earn his pilot's license. He had it all planned out. Of course he would have to work through college, but that could be taken care of. He would graduate soon, so he could have plenty of time to get a job.

Two months later... Saturday... May 26, 2001

Joseph stood with the rest of his class on graduation day. He had a half-hearted smile as he scanned the crowd for his only living relative, but his father was nowhere to be found. That was just how it was, his dad gave him a house to sleep in, food on the table, and a small allowance, but that was it. He was never around other than late at night when he would give him his money, then go to bed, then leave the next morning for a few weeks. He knew his father loved him, but he didn't really know him that well.

So, there he stood, all alone on graduation day, smiling into the crowd, trying to blend with the rest of his class. As he was about to leave, two men approached him, one was blond, wearing a red polo shirt with khaki pants and sunglasses, the other was brown-haired, a typical agent type, wearing a black suit with dark sunglasses.

"Hello, you must be Joseph Gallant. I'm Dusten Miller, and this is my associate, John Andrews. We would like to talk to you about a job that could change your life. Would you like to hear about it?" Dusten said, shaking his hand firmly.

Joseph looked at him with a questioning look. He looked at the man up and down observantly. He noticed that he had a name tag. He read it quickly. Sure enough, his name was Dusten Miller, and he worked for...InGen!

"You work for InGen." he stated.

"Well yes, I do, and you could too. Are you interested in the job?"

Joseph thought about it for a second. How could he pass up a chance like this? Even if InGen was simply a shadow of its former self, it was still the famous Dinosaur company.

"Yes, I am." Little did he know that those words would change his life for ever.

"Good, good. Please, come with me. We have much to discuss." He said, issuing him to a black limo in the parking lot.

"We're going in that?" Joseph said, stunned.

"Well yes, we are. You were specifically requested out of about 200 other candidates. You were the best for the job." He said.

"You mean, you've been watching me?" he asked, slightly nervous.

"In a way, but not exactly. Your personlity profile was brought up by the computer. You fit the description we were looking for perfectly. John Hammond himself requested you after we showed him your file." he said, smiling.

"R-really? But why me?" he said as they entered the limo and drove off.

"Don't worry, we'll tell you everything you need to know when we arrive." He said in a dismissive manner.

Joseph nodded, feeling slightly nervous, but he passed it off as just being tired. It had been a long day for him. Eventually he nodded off into a light sleep.

Dusten had noticed that his passenger had fallen alseep, then chuckled slightly, evilly.

"Heh, too bad this kid doesn't know what he's getting into. He'd probably be screaming for us to let him out right now." He laughed again.

"Look, it's just an experiment to advance our knowledge of dinosaurs. He's just the catalyst. I could care less what he wants right now." The other said.

"Harsh words, but true words. He'll never know what hit him." he paused for a moment. "Are you sure he has no connections? It would be... difficult to explain a sudden disappearance of a loved one."

"He only has one, his father, but he's being taken care of, and the company he works for is being bought out. They'll never ask any questions." The other said without emotion.

"Alright, well it's off to step 2 of the plan." Dusten said as he drove.

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Joseph woke up to find the car was pulling up to a large building with the InGen logo on it.

"We're here, Joseph." Dusten yelled, knocking on the glass. Joseph nodded and got out, following the two men into the large building. They walked through a large lobby then through a hall then into a large office. Another man came into the room and sat down in a chair behind a desk. He motioned to the chair before the desk, and Joseph sat down.

"My name is James Hopkins. I am the head scientist of InGen. I understand that you have an interest in dinosaurs?" Joseph nodded. "Good, we need you for a certain job. You fit the profile requirement perfectly..." he started, but was cut off.

"What exactly are these 'profile requirements'? I'm a little curious as to what I have that no one else does." he asked.

"Yes." He adjusted his glasses, then continued, "The profile requested needs someone with comperable dinosaur knowledge, good motivation, survival skills, a willingness to learn... and many others. You fit the bill perfectly."

"Survival skills? What exactly does this job entail?"

"Don't worry about that. You will see soon enough. You will be perfect for the job. All you have to do is what you do best, everything dinosaur. It's right up your alley, is it not?"

"Yeah I guess." He shrugged.

"Great. Oh, by the way, what are your two favorite colors?"

Taken aback by the question, he simply replies. "Uh... black and silver, why?"

"No reason. One of my associates will be here soon to give you a tour of where you'll be working. She's friendly, but a bit eccentric. She is the head scientist on the velocirators. She is the local raptor enthusist, but don't worry. She isn't crazy." He said with a slight smile. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Speak of the devil. She's here. Come on in."

A woman in her early twenties entered the room. She had shoulder-length, light brown hair in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing her face, and green eyes. She was a very beautiful woman. She wore a white lab coat and a red tank top underneath, with bluejean shorts and tennis shoes. She had a very slight tan, but nothing more. Litterally. Her skin was flawless. Joseph, to his credit, hid his attraction to her well, and simply gave a friendly smile.

"Joseph, this is Cynthia Adams. Cynthia, this is Joseph Gallant."

"Hi, so are you the new guy?" She asked, her hands on her hips, leaning forward, her face about four inches from his. She was giving him a curious look.

"Yes, I am." he said, offering his hand. She smiled brightly and shook his hand.

"I like you. Your just right. Well, on to the tour shall we?" she said, walking out the door. Joseph was slightly confused, but went with her.

James watched as the pair left with an evil smile. "Heh, he has no clue. Cynthia knows, but she thinks he's doing it willingly. Hopefully she won't screw it up. I'd hate to have to kill her."

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Cynthia was busy showing him all the raptor specimens they had. They were in cages, which she wasn't too crazy about, but she had to live with it. It was her job afterall. She would have preferred them in small habitat enclosures. She was asking questions about different things and telling him about what she does while she showed him around.

"So what made you take the job?" She asked.

"Well, two men approached me after my graduation and asked me if I was interested the job. I said yes, got in a limo, then ended up here." he said simply.

"You mean you didn't even think twice about it? You just came out and said yes without thinking about it for a while?" She asked.

"Well, I thought about it for a few minutes, but yeah, I guess you could say that." He said simply.

"Wow! You didn't even ask your parents?" He shook his head. "Well, I would have applied for the job, but I didn't fit the personality profile. I wasn't right for the job. I would've loved this job. Oh well. But hey, you'll be perfect for this job, and you love dinosaurs." She said with a smile.

"Heh, yeah, I do." He said with a chuckle.

"I can't wait to see how you'll do. I know you'll do great, but I can't wait to see you for myself."

"Hey, once I get the job, what exactly will I do?" He asked.

"Oh, you'll study the dinosaurs here and on Isla Sorna with a special research team. Mostly, you'll be studying the raptors with me." She said.

"Oh! Research work! Wait, did you say Isla Sorna?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um, no reason, I just thought you said something else." He smiled nervously. 'I thought those islands were abandonned.'

"We'll be going there after your indoctrination, which will take about a week. I'll teach you the basics of what I want you to study, then you'll do the rest. It'll be real simple." She smiled assuringly.

"Alright. So I'll be your assistant then?"

"Sort of. Yeah, I guess you could say that. Probably closer to something like an advisor." She said with a thoughtful expression. "I never really thought about it that way before."

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After the tour, Cynthia took him to his quarters in the west wing of the complex. Her quarters were next to his, so it all worked out. He sat in his new room. There was a uniform on his bed which consisted of a lab coat, blue cargo-jeans and a black polo shirt with the words raptor across the pocket where his name tag would be. The same word was also across the back of his lab coat. He checked the pockets of the coat and found a name tag. His name was inscribed on it with the words 'Velociraptor Research Team' below the name. He set all of it aside and took off his clothes and took a shower. When he was done, he found dinner on a cart next to his bed. After he ate and brushed his teeth, he went to bed, as it was late.

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The next morning, Sunday, a loud knock was heard on his door.

"Joseph, it's Cynthia! Wake up! Are you decent? I'm comming in!" She yelled, openning the door. Joseph was dressed in his boxers, but still freaked out at the last second and ducked under the covers. "Come on, wake up!" She yelled as she pulled the covers off of him. She stopped in her tracks after she pulled off his covers. She blushed slightly as she caught sight of his slightly chisled abs and broad shoulders. Joseph felt her stare, and he blushed hard, but didn't lose his composure.

"Good morning, Cynthia." he said with a bright blush, snapping her out of her trance.

"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry! I just burst in here! I feel really stupid, sorry!" She said as she turned around to the wall, still blushing. Joseph quickly put on his uniform.

"Alright, I'm ready." He said, then he sighed in relief that it was over. Cynthia quickly turned around and walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and walked out the door.

"Okay, today will be a busy day. First, we have to get you to the lab and get you ready, then we'll start packing up and getting ready to go. We'll be leaving for Isla Sorna in about a week." She said, rushing through the halls with him being dragged behind.

Soon they entered the lab. Joseph was in awe of the room. It was massive. Just as he was about to say something, Cynthia said 'goodbye' and left. He shrugged then turned back to the room. Several men in lab coats approached him. Joseph was slightly nervous, but he just walked to the men. Suddenly, everything went black...

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Hey! Silver Ryuu here. I'm a big fan of Jurrasic Park and decided to write a fiction about it. Just got an idea one day and I wanted to write. I'm happy with it.

If you see any mistakes, let me know. Thanks.

Flames, nice reviews, and helpful critiques are appreciated, but not necessary, as I'm not really writing for anyone. The reason for this story is personal amusement.

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu


	2. Experiment? Hell No!

Chapter 2: Experiment? Hell No!

Day 1, Sunday afternoon...

Slowly, consciousness came back to Joseph. His eyes were still closed, but he felt like hell. He felt like he would vomit if he even moved, so he didn't. He laid there, contemplating his last memories. The last thing he remembered was walking into a lab at Ingen with Cynthia, then seeing the men in lab coats approach him, then...nothing. He wondered briefly if he had passed out from the stress, but he quickly dismissed it. He wasn't nervous enough to pass out. Then he remembered the last thing he felt before he blacked out, a slight pain in the back of his neck at the base of his skull.

"What the... hell happened?" He whispered to himself. Slowly he openned his eyes, but what he saw was not anything remotely like what he was expecting. He was on the ground in a large jungle, surrounded by trees and shrubbs. This made him sit up quickly, despite the pain in his head.

He held his head as he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Right now, the only thing that made any sense as to his location was Isla Sorna, Site B. Slowly, he made his way through the jungle, wary not to make any noise. If there were any dinosaurs around, he would be dead. As he silently walked, he was trying to figure out why they sent him here.

'What was their purpose? Why would they send me here alone? I knew they were acting suspicious when they approached me. But why me? They kept saying I had the correct personality profile. What about me made them chose me?' All of these questions raced through his mind as he tried to find a clearing to get his barings.

After walking a while, he stopped and sat on a fallen and rotting tree to rest. He looked at his clothing. He still had his lab coat on and his black polo with jeans. His shoes were tennis shoes so they would last a while. He had to get rid of his white lab coat, as it would make him very visible. As he took it off, he noticed that something was in his coat pocket. He found a small digital recorder in it with a sound file loaded in memory. He pressed play.

"Hello Joseph," The recorder started. "If you are listening to this, congratulations. You have survived laying unconscious in the jungles of Isla Sorna for 5 hours." The voice was that of James Hopkins, the head scientist at Ingen. "You may be wondering why you are here. Well, I'll tell you. You will be doing exactly what I told you... researching dinosaurs in the most extreme way... surviving them.

"Oh don't worry, I had a few supplies sent with you to help you until you've found your own supplies. You have a small pocket knife in your left jean pocket, and a ration bar in your right. In your back pocket is a flask. It's not very big, but it should hold enough water for a while." Joseph found them and set them before him.

"You will have to use all of your wits to survive, so get creative. I know good and well you survived the forests of southern Peru for a week with nothing more than what you have now. There are old buildings all over the island so get hiking. I suggest you find a clearing so you can figure out where you are. Remember, 'Sun rises in the East and sets in the west.' There, now you have a compass.(Insert maniacal laughter here) We left alot of things behind when we evacuated, so see what you can find.

"Now, you may hate us but we don't care. Your just an experiment. Think of it as a test of your abilities. You survive, you pass. You die... hehe, well too bad. Let's see how long you survive." Then the recording ended.

'Hmm, if I'm just an experiment, then they have to have some way of tracking me. That means there is a tracking device somewhere on me.' He thought as he began searching his clothing. After searching for a few minutes, he found it in the top button of his polo shirt. Taking the knife, he cut the button off and then crushed the offending piece of hardware. 'That's that. I'm no one's experiment, I'm a human being. Now, off to find a base.' He said, taking a quick drink of the flask then continuing in the forest.

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Meanwhile, back at InGen...

"Sir, we've lost the signal." A non-descript worker said.

"Wow, already? Those creatures are quick. Too quick... wait, something tells me he figured out he was being tracked. That tracking device is too small to have been destroyed by consumption. Continue with the operation." James Hopkins said.

"Changes still scheduled to be complete in 162 hours, 14 minutes, and 17 seconds." Another worker said.

"Good."

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Joseph had abandoned the recorder and put the lab coat in his shirt to hide it as it might prove useful later. Traveling light and simple was the best way to avoid predators and survive. He knew he would have to find a safe place as fast as possible. He walked quietly for hours, not even stopping once.

He had to cover as much ground as possible and keep moving if he wanted to live. His best bet would have been the coast if someone was looking for him who would rescue him, but he had to hide and survive. He would have to become one with the jungle. Finding something in the deepest part of the jungle would be best.

Soon, he found an abandonned compound hidden in the jungle. It looked like a lab, but he couldn't tell from the outside. As he entered the lab, his senses were on overdrive as he was unsure if something had made this place it's home or not. He crept into what looked like the main lobby, as there were two reception desks in the middle. He walked up to one of the desks and picked up the phone, but there was no dial tone. He hung it back up with a sigh.

He looked around the room again, then moved deeper into the compound. He rounded the corner and found some vending machines. They were still full! He smiled at his stroke of luck as the vending machine was broken open so all he had to do was reach through the door. Quickly taking a bag of chips to eat, he went back to the front where the reception desks were and grabbed a luggage bag from under the desk. He went back to the machines and began filling the pack. He knew something more substantial than chips and candy was needed, but they would give him calories to burn if he needed to run from anything.

He thanked God that he joined the track team at his school. The best way to stay alive was to eat slowly over the whole day, so he attached a bag of chips to his belt and ate them slowly as he walked. His whole reason for searching this building was to find some sort of weapon to use as a means of hunting and defense, but high calorie food was good too.

Soon, he came to a metal staircase, which lead down to a lab of some sort. These strange tables with glass domes over them were spread across it. They had something in it, so he went down the stairs to investigate. Once down, he could see that along the walls, tanks with small dinosaur specimens were lined up. As he came to one of the domed tables, he found eggshells in them.

'These are incubators. This is the Hatchery. So this is the lab that takes care of the new dinosaurs. There has to be a weapons cache somewhere in here. How did they make sure none of the dinsaurs escaped prematurely?' He thought as he made his way through the lab. Soon, he came to the holding cells door. Before he openned it, he looked around and saw a locker door near it. He openned the door and found... a shotgun! 'YES!' he thought as he quickly grabbed it and inspected it. He checked the barrel, each of the twelve shells inside it and brushed off some of the dust. He read the name of the gun.

"Franchi Spas 12 Guage Shotgun." he read aloud. He examined it again. It was grey with stainless steel linings and it had an extendable butt with holes in it to make it lighter. It had a light below the barrel of the gun, which surprislingly still worked.

Quickly he took all of the ammo in the gun locker, which was about 64 shots. He closed the locker door and saw the words 'Shotgun Locker' across it. There was another locker with 'Hunting Rifes' inscribed across it. He openned it to find a single rifle with a large scope, camoflage mesh on it, and... a suppressor?

"Whoah! A suppressor! These guys were serious." He said, then he began his inspection. The barrel was clean, the bullets were clean, just the rifle was a bit dusty. He moved some of the camoflage and read the inscription. "M 21." This was a sniper rifle! A supressed sniper rifle! He nearly shouted in excitement at his luck. He looked back into the locker and found six clips, each with twenty rounds. The rifle was already fully loaded so he had a total of... 140 rounds! That would last a while. Add that to his 76 shots for his shotgun, and he was set.

He looked back into the locker and saw another gun, a large, silver pistol with a black stock. He put the rifle into his pack with his food and strapped the shotgun to his back, then picked up the moderately heavy pistol. It was a friggn' hand cannon! He did a quick inspection, then read the model. "50 cal. Desert Eagle." It was then that he recognized the weapon. He counted the ammo in the clip to be 7 rounds. He looked back into the locker and saw 6 clips lined up. "49 rounds total." He said as he loaded his pack.

He was all smiles as he continued his journey through the halls. He was a bit loaded down, but this was just until he could find a relatively safe place to stay. After he exited the compound he headed to a large hill where he could get a good look at his surroundings. It was starting to get late, so he had to hurry.

After a brisk, 15 minute walk, he made it to the top. What he saw was beautiful. The sun was just starting to set over the mountains in the distance on the other side of the valley he was just in. The orange mixed with the pinks and blues made for a wonderful sight.

Taking in this sight, he found a small lake near the end of the valley with a dam at the end. There were some buildings near the top on each side of the dam on the cliffs. There was also alot of trees around it. The dam seemed a bit overkill as it towered hundreds of feet above the surface of the lake. It was most likely a dual purpose dam, as it connected the two sides of the valley, as well as probably prevented the lake from destroying any buildings that might be on the other side. He was definitely headed that way tomorrow morning, but for now he would have to find a tree to stay in for the night.

He headed down to a stream that fed into the lake from the mountains and found a large tree to stay in for the night. To his surprise, the tree had large seeds that had a hard shell to them. He climbed up the tree and plucked a seed, which was close to the size of a coconut, and used his knife to open it. Inside, the seed looked very tasty, so he cautiously took a small bite of it. It was wonderfull. It tasted like a cross between a walnut and an almond. It was also large, so it would provide a good dinner before he would sleep.

Popping back to what he was originally trying to do, he took the two shells and slowly, cautiously climbed down to the water's edge with his D'eagle. He filled the two shells with water and headed back up the tree, careful not to spill the precious liquid. He set the two cups on a fork in the branches and made a leaf bed in the intersection of four large branches. It's was like it was made for him. He hung the shotgun on a limb within reach, set the D'eagle at his side, and hung the pack with his food and M21 off another limb, then laid down comfortably. He picked up one of the shell cups, took a quick sip, then went to sleep.

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Day 2, Monday...

The next morning, Joseph awoke to a strange noise. A small moan caused him to quickly, but quietly look over the side of the tree. What he saw was a small stegosaurus feeding on a bush near the base of the tree he was in. Another, more distant roar caused him to look up from the baby. A whole herd of stegosaurs were feeding on the underbrush of the forest, all around his tree! He would not be able to escape with them all around his tree, so he opted to wait. He had enough food and water to last a day before he had to move on, with plenty to spare. He didn't mind seeing these wonderful creatures up close.

He watched for hours as the herd casually grazed, eating their fill. He smiled as one of the larger ones looked up into his tree, then moaned softly before moving off and feeding again, it's tail pointed right at his tree. He knew it probably didn't see him, but he didn't doubt it's sense of smell. The wind was blowing softly from the south-west, directly behind him as he was looking to the steg. It obviously smelled him.

As he thought on thoses things, he quickly decided that if any predator was to attack, it would be from that direction, the north-east. He looked past the steg that was amusing him and into the denser woods. He would continue to look that direction since danger would most likely come from there.

After a couple more hours it was about noon, as the sun was blocked out by the tree he was in. He wasn't too fond of staying in one place too long, but he couldn't do anything about it now. He glanced back in the direction of the north-west and almost looked away until something caught his eye.

The trees rustled slightly, more than the wind would do. Then he saw it. A large snout stuck out of the trees, pointed right at the herd of dinos. A few seconds passed, then a massive dinosaur burst out of the trees, knocking a few over in the process, and barreled right at the herd of stegs. Joeseph quickly identified it as a Spinosaurus.

"What the hell is a Spinosaur doing here? They weren't on the list!" He whispered as the monster quickly subbdued the stegosaur from before, and began chowing down only fifty yards from his tree! Joseph could see the whole feast in graphic detail, but he didn't let it affect him. He was too worried about being noticed to bother with being sick.

Slowly, he gathered his things from the branches and put them on. He grabbed his last water shell and drank the rest, then put it back. He never looked away from the massive predator before him, ready to shoot at it in a moments notice. He was just about to start down the opposite side of the tree when the Spinosaur looked up from it's meal directly at him! He froze as their gazes met. Green-slited met ice-blue, and a tense moment ensued as the two stared at each other. Joseph knew it could see him, so he did the only thing he could think of, he smiled and waved at the large predator. It tilted it's head at the unfamiliar jesture the small creature made, looked down at it's own clawed arm, then back up at the small being. It gave an amused snort, then went back to it's meal. Joseph nearly choked as he restrained his laughter. Laughter could wait, he had more pressing matters, like survival.

Taking the ignorance as permission to escape, he quickly zoomed down the tree, and ran into the forest toward the dam, all his equipment dangling at his sides.

After a labored 5 minute run, he finally slowed to a walking pace, as running with three guns and alot of ammo and a weeks worth of snacks hanging off of you was hard. He was tempted to rest, but he didn't want to rest so close to that thing back there with the smell of a fresh kill in the air attacting other carnivores. He would rest at the dam depending on whether or not some dinos were around.

Half an hour later, he could see the dam past the trees. As he traveled up a small path that lead up to the top, he unshouldered his shotgun. He wouldn't let a raptor or another hiding predator get him.

As he came to the top, he walked onto the top of the dam and looked down at the other side. There was a small clearing at the bottom with a smaller building near the base of the dam with a small stream leading into the forest further into the valley, which continued on for a while. He looked across the dam and saw a road leading up higher into the cliffs of the mountain. A metal and concrete stairway led down into the clearing to the building at the bottom. Before he started down into the small clearing, he scanned the edges of the jungle for anything, then he headed down.

Walking down the concrete steps was generally easy, but some of the steps were broken away, making him have to slide some of the way. Once he was almost down, he saw a black suitcase type luggage case. It was made of some sort of black plastic. He stooped down and picked it up, carrying it with him to examine later. He really did have alot of stuff.

Once down, he looked back at the base of the dam and saw one of the water doors open slightly with water flowing through. It was open enough that he could fit through with little effort, but closed enough that nothing except compies could fit. He wasn't too worried about those though since they were mostly scavengers, eating dead or injured prey. He wasn't either of the two. All he had to do was keep quiet and he wouldn't have to worry.

The floodgate was a bit high off the ground, but it looked as though someone had stacked some crates so they could crawl up. Maybe someone was still here. The building was only about 20 or 30 feet away from the floodgate, so he could investigate later. First, he would set his stuff down inside his temporary base.

He climbed the crates and set his stuff inside the 5x5 hole, then he crawled inside. It had a slight v-shape on the floor with two level banks on each side. The banks were dry while the trench had a small stream flowing through it. He looked further into the hole and saw that it went all the way through and stopped at a barred-off openning leading directly to the lake.

Near the end was something laying on the ground. As he neared, he realized it was the remains of a human. The very old skeleton had some military clothing on it. He examined the clothing and realized it was the uniform of an American Marine. A Green Beret to be exact. He took off the camoflage jacket and ripped off the name tag which was sewn onto it, reading the name.

"Greenwood. Poor bastard." he said, looking at the corpse. It was then that he noticed the massive stain around him, with a stain trail leading back to the flood gate. "Hmm, must have crawled in here, losing blood, hiding from all those animals out there. This guy had to have been scared... Oh! What's this?" he said picking up an Uzi. He looked around and saw four clips laying around him. He checked the condition of the Uzi and saw that it was in surprisingly good condition. He checked the clip and found it about half full. 27 rounds out of 50 total.

"He must have seen a few of those raptors." he said, putting the clip back in place. He placed the gun into his pack with a smile. "Thanks man, I owe you one. Actually, I think I could give you a proper burial. I hope you don't mind Navy style, I'm a bit tight on time." he said, putting on the camoflage jacket and dragging the bones out of the tunnel. After 10 minutes, he had carried the body to the top of the dam, then gently tossed it into the lake with a salute.

Soon, Joseph was back in the dam's tunnel. As he settled in to his little aboad, his eyes fell on the mysterious black suitcase. He openned the suitcase to find a dismantled tranquilizer rifle with ten darts. Five of the darts had a clear substance with the word "tranquilizer" on the side. The other five had a red substance the word "toxic" on it. All of the darts had protective coverings over the needles, preventing any... accidents. He didn't realy see why he needed the gun, but kept it anyway, just in case.

"Okay, so far, I have a shotgun with 76 shots, a suppressed sniper rifle with 7 clips or 140 rounds, a Desert Eagle with 7 clips or 49 rounds, an Uzi with 5 clips or 227 rounds, a Dart Rifle with 5 sleep darts and 5 death darts, 23 candy bars, 16 bags of chips, a 6 inch knife, a flask, and a lab coat." he said as he organized his stuff.

He put the D'eagle in his cargo pocket with one clip extra in his back pocket, then slipped 12 shots into the shoulder strap of the shotgun and shouldered it. He ate a bag of chips, then headed out to the floodgate. He slowly peeked out of the large metal door into the forest and brought his shotgun to the ready. He stepped out quietly and kept his eyes scanning the forest. Quickly, he ran to the small building, then closed the metal door behind him.

He took a deep breath and peered around the small room. There was a large control pannel that seemed to control his floodgate. Surprisingly, it still worked, as when he pulled it, the floodgate, which he could see through the window, openned and closed. He looked around the room again and saw a small white locker sitting on the floor. He kicked the lock open and looked inside. There were no guns, but there was a box on the bottom which read "50 calibur handgun: 105 rounds." He openned the box and saw alot of bullets that looked like the same rounds he used for his D'eagle. He pulled a clip from his back pocket and extracted a round and compared the two. They were the same! He put the bullet back in the clip and pocketed it, then picked up the heavy box.

Suddenly, a loud screech was heard from outside the door. Joseph quietly set the box down and pulled out his D'eagle. He watched the window and backed up to the other side of the room. He pointed the pistol at the window and waited. After several seconds, a snout appeared from the corner of the window. It had to be a raptor!

Joseph gulped quietly as he kept his aim steady. He didn't want to fire as the sound would attract alot of other raptors in the area, but he would if he needed to. The raptor stepped fully into his view, revealing a mostly navy blue raptor with a sky blue stripe down it's back. It was looking for him, that much he knew, as the raptor would sniff the air from time to time. He watched as it wandered around the window, then moved to the floodgate, still sniffing. It tried to get into the gate, but it couldn't, which caused Joseph to sigh quietly in relief. They couldn't get him in there, but he wasn't so sure about in here.

He kept his gun trained on the predator as it explored for a while longer, then it heard some raptor calls from the woods and took off, much to his relief. He made his way to the door and peeked out, but he didn't see anything. He picked up the box of ammo, then speed-walked to the floodgate, quickly crawling inside.

Once inside, he set the box near his bag. This would last a long time, for sure. Not forever, but a long time if he conserved ammo. He had a total of 147 rounds for his D'eagle.

Night fell over his temporary base without so much a peep from the raptor from before. Just the sound of the lake and the small stream to keep him company. Roars in the distance reminded him of where he was, so he kept alert for any activity. He wasn't totally convinced that raptors couldn't get in, but he allowed himself to relax a little. The guns a his side made sure that any visitors in the night would have a quick and loud end. He slept rather comfortably with that knowledge.

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Back at InGen...

"Sir, the expected time of change is at the end of a seven day period, but further tests show that if the subject is unconcious, changes can occur more quickly." A scientist said to James Hopkins.

"Really? Is it the same for when he sleeps?"

"Y-yes, to a degree... It does accelerate the process, but not to the same extent as total unconsciousness." he said, looking at his clip board.

"Hmm, then we'll have to factor in those variables. I want to know how much time we have left before he changes, how big our window is." Dr. Hopkins demanded.

"Yes, Doctor."

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Hey. It's me again. So far, the plot thickens. If you like: Awesome. If not: oh well.

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu


	3. A Really Long Day

Chapter 3: A Really Long Day.

Day 3, Tuesday...

Joseph awoke with his whole body in pain. He hurt everywhere and he didn't know why. Through the pain, he looked at his surroundings. They were the same as when he went to sleep, the 5x5 hole at the base of the dam. The pain slowly subsided after a few minutes, then he felt fine. Actually a little better than fine. His muscles were more noticable! They weren't large by any means, just lean and wirey.

He smiled a bit. 'What the hell was I doing last night? Push-ups?' He thought with a chuckle. As he licked the inside of his mouth because of how dry it was, he found that his teeth felt sharper. 'What the hell!' He thought as he felt his teeth with his fingers. 'That's just disturbing.' He thought with a shake of his head.

He grabbed his D'eagle and a clip and put it in his belt, then straped the M 21 to his back. He would go hunting. He picked up the flask from it's place near the ammo and drank deeply to wet his dry mouth. He gave a satisfied sigh as he closed the flask and put it in his pocket. He grabbed the knife from his bag and also slipped it into his pocket along with a few empty bags of chips and some pieces of the lab coat to use as bandages, then headed to the floodgate.

He quietly peeked out and saw nothing, then he slipped out just as quietly. He unshouldered the M 21, then headed up the concrete stairway to the top of the dam. Now was no time to be exploring, so he decided to head to more familiar territory. He was completely unaware of the pair of green slitted eyes that disappeared into the forest.

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InGen Headquarters

Cynthia had been looking everywhere for Joseph yesterday, but was unable to find him. She decided that she would ask Dr. Hopkins about him.

"Dr. Hopkins? May I speak to you?" She asked, entering his office.

"Yes, of course, Cynthia. What do you need?"

"I haven't seen Joseph, the new guy, since a couple days ago. Do you know where he is?" She asked.

"Yes, I know where he is. I sent him to Isla Sorna. He has already started his research there. Your team will join him at the end of the week." He said.

"But, I thought there was only one team. I wasn't told that another research team had already been sent. And Joseph is my subordinate, shouldn't I have been notified that he was leaving?" She asked.

"You are right about the number of teams. There is only one, your's. And I didn't notify you because I know that you would have protested that I was sending him alone. Don't worry, half of the research will already be complete by the time you get there. We already started the project."

"What! You sent an 18 year old to that island without a team? What the hell were you thinking? His changes were supposed to be monitored here, under my supervision! What if he needs medical attention during the transformation? He could die if he isn't monitored!" she yelled, slamming her fist on the desk repeatedly.

"It was my choice to send him early! We have a deadline to meet, so if you are done ranting, I suggest that you get your equipment and team ready to meet him in three days!" He yelled, standing up behind his desk. "This is my project, not yours. I will do what I deem necessary to move it forward. Now leave my office!" He yelled. Cynthia turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to him.

"Did he even know what he was volunteering for when he signed on?" she asked, fear present in her voice. Based on the way things were going, she wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know. Hopkins' face split into an evil grin.

"No." He laughed loudly. Cynthia turned and ran out with tears in her eyes.

A scientist came into Hopkins' office. "Dr. Hopkins, these are the specifications of the DNA we injected into the subject that you requested." He said, handing the papers to Hopkins, which showed specs and a picture of the finished product. "We modified the DNA to your specifications. You wanted a tougher specimen that would have an easier time adapting to the environment, so we increased the overall muscle strength and the senses, as well as increasing the healing rate. The side effects are such that his speed would be greatly increased. An average specimen would be able to reach speeds of 65 to 70 mph in an open field, while he will be able to reach about 85 to 90. The healing rate is increased by 500 percent, and his strength by 300 percent. His reflexes will be increased by 200 percent. His visual perception and hearing will be doubled. His bone density was the least expected change we found in our models. His bones would be able to withstand 5 times the weight that a normal specimen could. And just like you requested, his memories and brain capacity will be preserved and enhanced. He will be just as inteligent, maybe more so than before. His IQ before the injection was 153. His projected IQ could be between that and 190 by the end of the changes." He said.

"Good. Once this project is over, depending on the results, we can send the specifications to the military for their super-soldier program. The 'team' they sent to observe us will bring a good report to their superiors. We will also be able to expand our knowledge of dinosaurs farther than we ever could have. Good job, continue to monitor our progress in the main lab. I'll deal with the rest. Oh, also, did you make sure that once the changes have taken place he will be able to control the mutations?" He asked, folding his hands on his desk.

"Yes sir. Once the changes have taken full effect, he will be able to regain a version of his former form, though obvious signs of the mutation will be unavoidable, such as his eyes, claws, and possibly his muscle levels. He will still look human to a degree, but some things won't be fully reversed." The man said. "Also sir, the skin color decals you selected for the project were successfully encoded into the DNA injection. All computer models show your exact specifications." he stated, then he left.

"Excellent." he said folding his hands over his desk. "Oh well, some things can't go completely as planned. After all, he won't be fully human after this, so some things will have to change. We'll smooth out those kinks in the injection before we mass-produce it to the military." He said to himself after the man left.

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(Pack ranking system)

Alpha male Alpha female Beta Gamma Delta Epsilon Zeta Eta Theta Iota Kappa Omicron Sigma Upsilon Omega

(Some skipped for convenience)  
(Used majority of Greek Alphabet)

A navy blue raptor with a sky blue stripe on his back and a small tuft of feathers on his head ran quickly through the forest towards his pack's nesting grounds. He was a scout sent to investigate a new smell that had invaded the area. He had just seen the creature responsible climbing the great stone wall of the lake that their stream flowed from. He apparently lived in the hole in the wall.

The scout finally made it back to the grassland of his nesting grounds. It was a massive field filled with tall grass that could hide a whole pack from sight. Their nests were situated at the edge of the forest which concealed a large building complex that had been reclaimed by nature.

"What did you find, Beta: Razor?" A large grey raptor with a large red stipe down his back and black stripes asked.

"Alpha: Terror, the strange scent was from a tresspasser of the past. One has made his nest in the great stone wall of the lake." Razor replied.

"What? Why is a tresspasser here? I thought our kind drove them out." the alpha raptor named Terror growled. "What was he doing when you left?"

"He was headed into our rivals' territory, the Leaf Pack." Razor replied.

"Oh, the Leaf Pack eh? Well Flare and her pack won't be a threat for much longer. We killed the last of their freaky, feather-headed males last week along with the rest of their eggs." Razor whinced slightly at the jab, as he also had feathers. "They have no way to continue their miserable lineage. The Grass Pack will rule this land in the end. When the tresspasser comes back to the wall... kill him." Terror stated coldly.

"Yes, Alpha. Gamma, Epsilon, come with me. We will await his arrival." Razor commanded.

"Yes, Beta." The two raptors replied, then followed Razor to the wall.

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Joseph was slowly crawling in the grass in a small clearing to a group of parasaurolophus and other varied dinosaurs grazing. If he didn't do this right, he could end up hungry or trampled to death. On the good side, he could end up stuffed and ready to explore the surrounding area. He preferred the latter of the two. He was still a good ways off from the herd, but he could still spook them if the wind suddenly changed. Right now, he was down wind, but the winds were variable that day, so he had to hurry.

Slowly he stood, his M 21 in the ready, aimed at the heart of one of the smaller dinos, a pachycephalosaurus juvenile. He wasn't going to aim at the head because the bullet would have to travel through 9 inches of solid bone, only making the dino pissed off. He breathed in, let out half of his breath, then pulled the trigger. A quiet metallic 'clink' was heard as the animal dropped dead where it stood. Joseph quickly knelt back into the grass and crawled to his prey. None of the other dinos even knew he was there. Once he was near the meat, he cut some off and put it in the chip bags he had finished. He closed the bags, then crawled back into the woods, leaving the rest to the compies that were sure to come.

Once he was back in the woods, he knew that starting a fire near his base would be a bad idea as it would attract alot of predators, so he made a small fire with some sticks, set the meat on some spikes he carved, then set them over the fire. After he set up the meat, he climbed a nearby tree to stay safe while the meat cooked. After a minute, he climbed back down and turned them over, then shot back up the tree. He waited a little longer, then quickly went back down the tree and retrived the meat. Back in the tree, he had his meal.

"Hmm, not bad. Tastes sort of like beef and turkey. I could live on this." He said, chewing on the meat. He finished it quickly, then moved out of the area to avoid any predators who might smell the fire.

Heading back to the lake as fast as he could, he knew that the safest place was the dam. Predators lurked in the woods, so he had to move fast. With his D'eagle in his right hand and his M 21 on his back, he could defend against alot of the smaller ones, but a rex or allosaur would be trouble. The spinosaur would be his worst luck if he did find one, but he hoped desperatly that he wouldn't.

Suddenly, a massive raptor of some sort pounced on him. He blocked it's mouth with his left arm, but it bit down on his arm as he fired his pistol into it's head, the sound of the shot echoing in the forest creepily. It fell over next to him, dead, with a large hole where it's eye used to be, the other side completly blown out and splattered on the ground. He rolled away from it and looked at the massive bird of prey. It looked like a very large raptor but it's head was slightly different from that of a Velociraptor. The snout was slightly curved in an arc from it's eyes to it's nose, with more cylindrcal teeth than a Velociraptor's blade-like teeth. He identified it as a Deinonychus, a larger, more firece, but not as smart version of the Velociraptor. They are also known to hunt as individuals more often than in packs.

Joseph rolled up his camoflage jacket sleeve and looked at his arm. He was bleeding pretty badly, but it could have been worse. If it had bit down any harder, he would have lost all control of his arm, but he could still move his hand. He pulled out a long piece of the lab coat then wrapped it around his arm to stop the bleeding. 'Good thing I brought the lab coat pieces.' he thought, tying off the bandage, rolling down his sleeve, and continuing into the forest.

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Razor and the two raptors with him waited patiently in the bushes near the clearing. They had their eyes set on the wall, waiting for the tresspasser to return. Razor turned to one of the two raptors.

"Gamma: Shade, flank to the left behind the construct near the wall. Await my orders to attack."

"Yes Beta: Razor." Shade said, then ran to the designated spot.

"Epsilon: Pyro, flank to the right, near the base of the steps in the bushes and await my orders."

"Yes Beta: Razor." Pyro growled, then ran to the stairs.

They waited for a few hours, patiently waiting for their target to arrive. Soon, the tresspasser peaked it's head over the edge of the great wall, looking cautiously into the clearing. Razor soon smelled the creature. It seemed that it had been injured, as he could smell blood, nearly making him go into a frenzy. He almost blew his cover because of his instincts. Slowly and apparently very alert to it's surroundings, the tresspasser made it's way down the steps of the wall.

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Cynthia burst into her quarters, tears streaming down her face. She collapsed on her bed, shouting into the pillow to muffle her screams.

"I can't belive he would do that! Why would he capture someone, inject them with a mutation inducing liquid, then send him to one of the most dangerous islands in the world, alone, confused, and scared, with strange things happening to his body that he can't explain?" She cried.

For hours, she never left her room. Soon, she stopped crying and had a look of determination.

"This isn't a research expedition anymore! This is a rescue operation, and it's leaving right now!" She yelled, then got up and left her room in a hurry.

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Joseph was cautious. He knew that something was watching him. He could feel it. He figured it was just his imagination, but he didn't lower his guard. If he did, it would result in his death. With his D'eagle in hand, he slowly made his way down the side of the dam to his safe zone. He constantly scanned the edge of the clearing for any sign of a predator, noticing that his eye sight was a bit better than he remembered. Thanks to that though, he did see something as he descended the concrete steps.

In the edge of the woods, near the bottom of the steps, something was watching him. He could see... something, but he wasn't sure. Unshouldering his M 21, he looked through the scope into the woods. Sure enough, a green slitted eye was staring right back at him. Joseph shuddered as he looked into the eye. He figured that 'shoot first, ask questions later' was the best approach, so he took the shot.

'Clink' the rifle fired silently. A pained screech was heard from the bush, and a raptor with grey skin and crimson spots dashed out of it's cover, and into the forest, another raptor with darker grey skn and black stripes running away from the other side of the base of the dam as well.

"So they were hunting me. That's reassuring." He mumbled sarcastically. "I guess I should move out since they know I'm here. Ugh, I don't want to move all that stuff again." He cried with anime tears. He quickly moved down the steps and into the floodgate and began gathering his stuff.

Moving quickly, he put his M 21, uzi, dart rifle, and spare clips and darts in his duffle bag, along with his supply of snacks. He put the box of D'eagle ammo in as well, simply dumping it in and disgarding the box. Grabbing the rest of his supplies, like his lab coat pieces, flask, and knife, he slipped them into the bag as well. He put the shotgun on his back and his lucky pistol as he started to call it, into his cargo pants. An extra D'eagle clip was slipped into his back pocket, then he shouldered his bag, and left in a hurry, leaving the ammo box and the plastic suitcase the dart rifle came in, behind.

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A white raptor with two black parrallel stripes down her back with sky blue tiger stripes looked over her pack's nesting grounds with a worried expression. Her scouts hadn't found any rougue males in the area that were willing to join her dying pack. None were willing because none were found at all. All she had left were her female pack mates, and it looked grim for them. With no males, no hatchings could be born to continue their bloodlines. The damn Grass Pack had killed the last of the males in her pack as well as raided her last nesting grounds and destroyed all the eggs. It looked as though hope was all but gone for the Leaf Pack. She sighed as another scout returned.

"Alpha: Flare, no potential mates have been found in the area. My search was unsuccessful, my appoligies, Flare." A white raptor with navy blue spots said sadly.

"It is alright, Zeta: Rain. It's not your fault, we have to keep searching. But first things first, gather the pack, we must hunt." Flare said with change in attitude toward confidence for her pack. If she was depressed, so was the pack, so she had to stay strong. Rain then barked loudly, calling all the pack back to the nest to get ready to hunt.

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The three raptors sent to kill the tresspasser were quickly running back to the Grass Pack's nest. Razor slowed down to run next to Pyro who had been injured by the tresspasser.

"Pyro, are you alright?" asked Razor. Pyro shook his head.

Pyro sounded as if he was weezing and choking while blood would spill out of his nose and the side of his snout.

"Ah, your voice is gone. You can't vocalize anymore. This is unfortunate." Razor said simply. Pyro gave him an incredulous look as if to say 'That's all you have to say? I'm a mute now, damnit!'

"I know, I know. You may not be able to vocalize anymore, but you still have some use to us." Razor said as they entered the nest, approaching Terror.

"Beta: Razor, I assume you have accomplished your goal?" Terror said as the three approached.

"No, Alpha. The tresspasser was able to find us out and attack before we could kill it. Pyro was injured and is now unable to vocalize." Razor said emotionlessly. Another raptor approached the group, a female.

"Oh no, what happened to my Pyro?" A green raptor with black stripes purred worriedly as she nuzzled the injuried Pyro.

"Zeta: Jade, he has been rendered mute by a tresspasser near the great wall of the lake. I'm sorry." Razor replied with a sad look. Jade purred lovingly as she licked his wounded snout.

"Oh, my Pyro, I'm so sorry. That tresspasser will pay!" She growled angrily. Pyro gave her a worried look.

"You know I have to get revenge on that evil creature for what he did to you." Pyro shook his head.

"Oh alright, fine, I understand. You want to keep me safe. That's why I love you, Pyro." She said, licking her mute mate. He gave her a weak smile then roled his eyes slightly when she wasn't looking.

"Well, Razor, you have failed. You will make up for this with nest duty for the next hunt. Fail again, it will mean your banishment from these lands, understood?" Terror spoke in a authoritative tone.

"Yes, Alpha." Razor replied with a bow of his head.

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Joseph quickly made his way to the building near the other side of the lake from the dam. There, he could find a temporary place to rest before moving on. He hated to admit it, but he was overloaded and would have to consolidate his supplies to move effectively. To stay alive meant that he had to keep moving until he found a defendable shelter, and he wasn't sure where one was on this nightmarish island.

With how much he had on him, he could move at a max of 5 miles per hour. Needless to say, that with the amount of energy he is expending to maintain that speed, it is inefficient at best and damn exhausting at worst. The dense forest he was travelling through wasn't helping matters either.

Soon, the science compound was in sight. It was the same building he got his first three guns and food, so it was familiar territory, He still didn't let his guard down though, as anything and everything unexpected could and possibly would happen if he didn't keep his wits about him. As far as he was concerned, death was waiting for him around every corner, behind every door, and behind him all the time.

Joseph kept his shotgun at the ready as he peeked around jeeps and bushes, making his way to the building's front door. Cautiously, he crept his way into the lobby of the building. Walking towards the hatchery from before, he made no sound, keeping his footfalls light and his breathing shallow.

He came to the entrance of the lab, openned it slowly, scanned the area, then proceeded down the metal stairs into the lab. Moving to the right of the lab, he came to a steel door which said 'Wash Room.' He pulled the lever on the door, manually unlocking it, stepping inside, and closing the door, locking it from the inside.

He scanned the room. A large steel bathtub with 4 foot high sides was in the center of the room. Along the back wall were cleaning supplies, from scentless shampoo and soap, to towels and wash cloths. Along the right wall was a bullet-proof window with bars. Along the left wall was the worker showers, sinks with mirrors, and toilets.

'Ah, toilets... no more going in the forest using leaves.' He thought with a relieved smile. Making his way to the large, steel tub, he set his stuff in it, then went to the supply wall and grabbed some towels to make bedding. Setting the towels in the tub to his liking, he went back to the wall, grabbed some soap and shampoo, took off his clothes, and took a much needed shower.

While he was washing, his wound from the Deinonychus was scabbed over and not very painful. He examined it closely and saw that it showed no signs of infection. After the shower, he put his clothes back on, used the restroom, grabbed his shotgun and D'eagle, then went to explore the compound.

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Flare and two of her pack mates were out hunting in a nearby field when a strange scent caught the three's attention. It was an unknown scent. If Flare was about four years old, she would have recognized the general scent, but she was only two. She growled to the others for them to stop.

"You smell that?" Flare questioned. A white raptor with grey spots and tiger stripes walked up to her.

"Yes. What do you suppose it is?" The raptor named Storm asked.

"I'm not sure. Wind, do you smell it as well?" A white raptor with wavy, sky blue stripes raised her head and sniffed the air.

"Yes, I do, but I'm not sure what it is." She growled with a confused expression.

"Perhaps we should investigate. Storm, take two other raptors with you from the nest and continue the hunt, we will return soon. Don't wait up for us." Flare nickered.

"Yes Alpha: Flare." Storm replied with a respectful bow, then she turned and ran into the forest.

"Wind, come with me." Flare barked, running in the direction of the compound, Wind in close pursuit.

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	4. Curious

Chapter 4: Curious...

Joseph explored the compound and found that it hadn't changed much since he had last seen it. There were a bunch of empty rooms scattered throughout the compound, but he didn't discover anything of any real importance, except for an InGen jacket, t-shirt, combat boots that were only a size too big, and khaki shorts. Luckily, they were only slightly loose. He did discover a first aid kit in one of the rooms, much to his pleasure. Applying some anticeptics to his wound, then tying a proper bandage around his arm, he was happy to say that it shouldn't give him any problems in his daily life until it heals. Thanking God that He had supplied him so well and kept him alive to this point, he continued his tour of the building.

Soon, he was headed back to his temporary abode in the wash room. He headed through the holding cells and into the lab. He stopped suddenly, his eyes wide with fear. Near the front of the lab at the top of the metal stairs, were two raptors staring right at him. They were both mostly white, the one in front having two parallel stripes down it's back and sky blue tiger stripes, the other having sky blue wavy stripes down it's body. The first raptor made a strange barking noise then slowly walked down the stairs, still staring intently at him.

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Flare suddenly stopped when she heard a noise after walking through the door. Scanning the room, she saw a creature walking through a door at the other end of the room. She was watching it carefully as it seemed to move with a purpose, as if it were smart, which confused her. She growled quietly to Wind, telling her to stay quiet. Suddenly the creature looked up directly at them, and she could see fear flash in it's eyes as it froze in place. She did the only thing she could think of.

"Hello, little guy." she said gently as she approached it slowly. She was disappointed to see it back up slightly, the fear in it's eyes still showing. It looked around breifly, then shot to it's left, her right, towards a door. "Wait! I'm not going to hurt you! I just want to know what you are!" She said, jumping off the stairs toward it and running, trying to beat it to the door. The creature was surprisingly fast though, and made it to the door before her, much to her dismay.

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Joseph breathed in and sighed in relief that he made it. Though he did run much faster than he thought he could have, he wouldn't look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. He was just glad he was still alive. He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a strange metalic clicking noise from the door he was leaning on.

"Are they knocking on my door?" He whispered to himself, backing away from the door slowly. It definitely wasn't them trying to knock it down because there was almost no force behind the clicks. It sounded as if they were just tapping on the door. If he wasn't so scared, he would have thought it funny that they would knock.

After a few minutes, the knocking stopped and everything was silent. He sighed again, then walked to the metal tub and set his stuff down, then laid down and took a short nap.

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Flare huffed in frustration after knocking for the fifth time, but it was obvious the creature was too scared to come out.

"Uh, Flare, what is it about this creature that intrigues you so much?" Wind questioned.

"Well, I'm not sure. I guess it's because I've never seen anything like it before. I don't even know if it is a boy or girl. I guess I'm just curious, that's all." She said simply.

"Would you have eaten it after your curiosity was satisfied?" Wind asked.

"What? No, I told it I wouldn't hurt it and I keep my promises. Plus, I think it's smart, like us. Not like the other degenerate creatures on this world, but sentient, like us. I was only curious." She said sheepishly.

"What makes you think it is sentient?" Wind chirped curiously.

"Well, it seemed to have a purpose when it moved, and it was carrying things with it, things that seemed to be crafted, not naturally made. Like a tree compared to... this." She said, pointing at a metal beam holding up part of a walkway. The two walked out of the lab and out of the compound, but didn't leave the area. They opted to explore the perimeter of the building. Soon, they went down a small hill and saw a part of the building that was see through. If Flare was right, she thought it might be where the creature was hiding. She skipped over to the window and peered inside. Sure enough, the creature was sleeping soundly in a strange shiny bowl-looking thing with strange sheets of soft material folded up at the bottom for his nest. "Hey, Wind, I found it's nest! Look! Look!" She chirped happily. Wind rolled her eyes as she trotted over to her Alpha who was acting like a hatching.

Wind peered inside and sure enough, there lay the creature from before in the large metal nest. The two raptors watched curiously as the creature slept soundly.

"Well, this is REALLY interesting and all, but don't you think we should head back and leave it alone?" Wind asked sarcastically. Flare glared at her before replying.

"Yeah, you can head back. I want to stay here for a little longer and see what I can learn about it. Maybe I'll learn if it's male or female. Maybe it'll warm up to me. Oh that would be so cool. To be friends with that creature would be interesting." Flare ranted randomly. Wind rolled her eyes at her ever-curious leader.

"Alright, Alpha. I'll head back and take care of the pack for a while. But come back soon, okay? The pack needs your support and leadership, now more than ever." Wind said, leaving.

"Alright, bye. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." She called out as an afterthought. Wind nodded, then took off into the forest. Flare continued to watch the strange creature with ever growing curiosity.

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Joseph slowly woke up from his short nap to wait out the raptors. He guessed that he'd been out for around two hours for the sun was starting to set. Joseph got up and began removing his bandage to look at it's progress. It was healing quite fast, he guessed he would have a slight scar after it was fully healed, but nothing more. He went to the window, rubbing his eyes as he approached. Once he was at the window he openned his eyes.

"AAAHHH!" Joseph screamed then fell back on his butt, staring at the raptor in his window. It looked at him curiously, and made a few chirping noises that he could barely hear through the glass. Slowly, he got up and approached the window again, staring back intently into it's blue eyes. Suddenly the raptor stepped back a few steps and began to hop around almost as if it were excited, making him chuckle slightly. It seemed the raptor was only curious, but he wasn't about to be stupid and test and see if it were friendly. He simply smiled and put his hand on the glass. The raptor, seeing his hand, approached the window again, then put the top of it's head where his hand was, making soft growling noises. It seemed to want to be petted. The raptor stopped carressing the window and looked him deep in the eyes, it studying him and he studying it.

"Heh, I wish I could tell if you were male or female. You know, I can't have you staying around here. I have to get out to eat, you know. I mean, chips and candy are tasty but they just don't have all the necessary stuff in'em to keep me healthy. If I knew for sure you wouldn't try to eat me I might have come out to meet you personally, buuuuut, I know better than that. That would just be stupid of me to do that. It's like jumping into shark infested waters willingly, covered in sheep's blood, hoping that the sharks will be friendly. It's just not logical. See this?" He said, holding up his arm. "As soon as you smell me, you'd try to eat me. I'm just not in the mood to be eaten. Sorry. Now shoo, I've got things I need to do. Can't have you hanging around anymore. Go!" he said, making a shooing motion with his hand. The raptor made a small gesture with it's head, almost like it nodded, then took off into the forest. He wondered briefly if it understood him, then shrugged it off. "There's no way it understood me. It hasn't ever been exposed to the English language before, there's no reason to believe it understood me." He said to himself as he continued what he was doing.

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Flare watched as the creature got up from it's nest, and stretched. It looked around groggily, then unwrapped something from it's left arm, showing her that it had been injured. She looked at the marks and realized that they were bite marks.

'No wonder it was so scared of us, it's been attacked already.' she thought with a frown.

Slowly, the creature made it's way over to the window she was looking in, rubbing it's eyes. Once it was at the window, it stopped rubbing it eyes and looked directly at her. It's reaction made her chuckle slightly. It made a frightend noise and fell backwards. It looked at her with large eyes, fear very evident in them. "Hey, don't worry. I won't hurt you, okay?" she chirped with a gentle smile. The creature stood to it's feet and approached the window again, staring at her intently. She was making progress! She stepped back and cheered excitedly, hopping around like a hatching that took down it's first prey. She looked back at the creature. It had a pleasant expression on it's face, making her smile. The creature put it's hand on the glass. She slowly approached the glass again and pressed her head to the glass where it's hand was, wishing she could feel it's hand on her head. "Oh, I wish I could learn more about you, little guy. I wish I could touch you, instead of you being behind this frustrating piece of glass." She purred softly. She lifted her head from the glass and stared into it's beautiful blue slitted eyes, much like her own, but they seemed a little lighter, almost shining with the light of the sun behind her. Suddenly, the creature began making sounds that sounded as if it was trying to speak to her. She listend intently, memorizing every word, even if she didn't understand them. She felt like she was somehow connecting with it on some base level. Soon, the creature backed away from the glass and made some gesture with it's hand, then turned back into the room. That settled it for her. It was definitely intelligent. She nodded to herself in determination to learn more about it, then took off into the forest to tell everyone about the new creature she made friends with.

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Joseph walked up to a sink and washed his face, splashing the cold water onto him. He rubbed his eyes, then looked into the mirror, wondering what was irritating them. He gasped.

"What the hell happend to my eyes!" he screamed, looking at his eyes that were much like that raptor's eyes from before. He shuddered, genuinely worried. Tears began flowing from his eyes. "What's happening to me? Oh God, what's happening?" he cried, thinking about all that's happend to his body so far. First his muscles, then his teeth, then his senses, then his running speed, and now his eyes. What was next? What was he turning into? All of these questions raced through his mind as he collapsed into his bed, eventually crying himself to sleep.

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Day 4, Wednesday...

Cynthia had been busy since yesterday afternoon, packing her things and making sure the team would be ready to leave when she was. She packed her equipment and notes into her backpack, then began packing essential survival gear. After packing her clothes and everything, she was ready to try to convince James Hopkins that since everything was ready, they could leave for Isla Sorna.

Cynthia knocked on the door of James' office and took a deep breath. She had to be calm and restrain from kicking his ass across San Diego and beyond for what he did. Dispite her extreme anger and hatred for her boss, she forced a smile onto her tense, yet pretty face.

"Come in." She heard him say. She walked in and maintained her smile.

"Good morning, Dr. Hopkins."

"Good morning, Cynthia. What would you like to discuss?" He asked, folding his hands over his desk.

'How 'bout the fact that you captured somebody, experimented on him, then sent him to the most dangerous place on earth, you asshole!' she thought. "I would just like to ask your permission to leave for Isla Sorna early since everything is ready to go, sir." She said, her smile still strained but falsely pleasant.

"Hmm, any specific reason why?" He asked suspiciously.

"Uh, well, we would be able to meet up with Jos- I mean, the subject and brief him and make sure that his changes go smoothly. We might also be able to convince him to be a willing participant and recover any data we would lose if he doesn't trust us. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't, but I could try." She said, her smile starting to falter.

"Well, since I had already arranged for the team to leave sooner than we predicted due to unforseen schedule changes, yes, you may leave with the team and begin research early. You are scheduled to be there by late Thursday, maybe early Friday. The ship isn't as fast as the airplane we used to get him there, unfortunately, so you won't be there by tonight, but it's better than nothing right?" Cynthia nodded stiffly. "Alright, you're dismissed." he said, shooing her out the door.

Cynthia was eager to leave as soon as possible, so the team was ready to go. They left for the docks of San Diego with all of their equipment and vehicles.

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Joseph again woke to pain all over his body, making him shout and gnash his teeth as wave after wave of pain assaulted his body. After a few minutes, it finally sudsided, leaving him slightly exhausted. He sat up, thinking about the irony of it all. 'I go to sleep to rest up, then wake up more exhausted than before I hit the sack. What a drag...' he thought, shaking his head. He sat there, thinking about his situation and how he got there. He thought about the people responsible, letting the anger rise a bit before he forced the thoughts away. He tried to imagine what he would have been doing if this job had turned out the way he thought it would. He would be working with other scientists, learning about raptors and other dinosaurs, getting ready for a trip to this damn island with people, talking to his superiors about his job, earning cash. Hell, it would have been nice if they had been telling the truth. But it was all a lie. They used him, knocked him out, did something to his body, then sent him here to be their experiment. They were all lying, James Hopkins, John Andrews, Dustin Miller, even Cynthia. They had all lied to him. As he thought about each person and their actions and personality, he realized that it really was all so suspicious, even from the beginning. Dustin was too forward and insistant, John was too quiet, James was too open, and Cynthia... actually, now that he thought about it, she was the only one being honest. He thought about what she had said to him, all the questions she had asked, the pure and innocent honesty she had. She even was surprised he took the job without thinking about it for a few days. 'Did she even realize that I had no clue what I was getting into? She probably thought that I was well aware and confident. She didn't know that I didn't know!' he thought, realizing that she was the only one he would even think about trusting again. Based on what she had said, she was oblivious to the plot going on around him. He smiled at the fact that he could trust atleast one person from InGen. If he ever saw her again, he would explain everything, and let her know that he thought it was just a research job and nothing more.

He sighed, wishing he was back home. He went to run his hand through his hair when he stopped, looking at his hand with wide eyes. He had claws. They seemed like the claws from a raptor's hand. It was then that he put two and two together. "They're turning me into a raptor." He said quietly with a sigh. "Heh, figures. And here I thought I would be researching raptors with a team, not be the raptor the team would research. Don't they have enough raptors to study without having to make people into raptors? Maybe they're testing some kind of drug. Maybe they're trying to combine raptor DNA with that of humans. I wonder if I'm their first attempt. If not, then what happened to the others? Mr. Hopkins did say I was an experiment. Well, maybe since my abilities are being inhanced, they're making a super-soldier injection." He said, looking at his hand. "Well, look on the bright side, atleast I can do cool stuff now. Super speed, super senses, claws, what's next? When I was younger I would have loved this. I just hope they will change me back when they are done. I don't want to be this way forever. ...well, let's go test my new limits, see how much I can do now since I'm partially a raptor." He said, getting up, placing his D'eagle in his pocket and nothing more. He looked back at his injured arm. "Whoah! I heal pretty quickly now!" He said, looking at his nearly healed arm. "Heh, claws and super healing... reminds me of Wolverine. Heh, I wonder what I should call myself? Raptor? Nah... Speed? Nah..." He continued thinking up superhero names as he walked out of his room, heading outside. He had to do something to pass the time and keep his mind busy, otherwise he would go insane.

Outside, he began testing his abilities.

"Okay, first, I'll see how high I can jump." He said, crouching for a jump. He jumped as hard as he could, surprising himself when he reached the same height of the roof of the compound. "Whoah! That's at least 15 feet! I can jump 15 feet into the air! Wow!" He said, looking up at the edge of the roof. He narrowed his eyes, then jumped to the ledge, landing gently on top of the building. He looked back at the ground with a smile. "Sweeeeeet!" He jumped back to the ground, landing gently with barely a noise. He looked around the small clearing, then took off into the forest to the nearest game trail. "I think I'll try my skills at hunting."

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The Leaf Pack was up early to hunt. Flare and all the others, seven raptors total, left to go to the nearest game trail to feed. They didn't have any eggs to protect so everyone could go out to hunt.

Everyone was in position, ready to rush out into the herd of Parasaurolophus, when Flare caught the scent of the creature from lastnight. Flare considered going to it and seeing it, but decided against it, as the pack was more important than her newest hobby. She refocused her attention on the herd before her, when Wind spoke.

"Alpha, isn't that the creature from before?" She asked, looking into the herd.

"Where?" Flare chirped, looking at the herd.

"There, at the edge of those woods to the right of the herd." She pointed with her claws. Sure enough, it was the creature. Suddenly, it ran out into the herd.

"Wow, it IS fast!" Flare said, watching as it ran at speeds that even a raptor would be hard pressed to match. It quickly caught up to one of the stronger looking Parasaurs, making Flare worried. Even the whole pack would have trouble with a buck, especially one so large. She watched as it easily leaped to the back of it's neck, even as the buck was running, then jab it's hand into the back of it's neck, making it fall down instantly, paralyzed. The creature fell off as the buck fell, rolling when it hit the ground, then getting up and approaching it's kill. It was then that it occurred to Flare that the herd was running away. She sighed, then looked back to the creature. It was ripping off pieces of meat, then placing them in some sort of pouch. It repeated the process several times, then ran off into the woods, in the direction of it's nest. She looked back at the corpse with a gentle smile. "Well, dinner is served, everyone. Let's eat!" She barked, running into the clearing to the kill.

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Joseph was rather impressed with himself. He had taken down a really big Parasaur without so much as a scratch. He was hugely faster than he thought he would be, and his hands were alot stronger with his claws. He gathered the meat quickly as he could, as he could smell rotting flesh, a sure sign of other predators in the area. Soon, he had enough to last a while, then he took off into the forest. He paused briefly at the edge of the clearing, looking back at the kill. He was surprised to see the raptor from last night leading a group of raptors to the kill. He smiled, then ran away quickly before he was discovered.

Back at the compound, Joseph set his catch down in his temporary bed he made in the bottom of the tub, then went to take a shower to get the blood off, as well as wash and change clothes. After his shower, he hung up his wet clothes to dry after letting them soak in the sink to get the blood out. He changed into the extra pair of clothes that he had found yesterday in one of the rooms.

After heading back outside to find some firewood, he soon was back inside, with a decent fire in one of the sinks, cooking the meat he caught. After his meal, he had some water from his flask, then went to sleep. He wanted to wake up early the next morning.

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Cynthia and her team were in the pacific ocean, nearing the half-way point in the trip. Cythia had them at full throttle the whole voyage, after explaining the nature of the research expedition turned rescue operation. Some of the crew were shocked to find out that the subject was captured instead of volunteering and were eager to help the poor guy. Though most kept their mouths shut, as they knew the circumstances of the mission before hand and were in the know about the capture. They had other plans for the mission and Cynthia.


	5. Changed!

Chapter 5: Changed!

Day 5: Thursday...

As Joseph had expected, when he awoke, he was in pain. But this time the pain was far greater than any that he had experienced. He was convulsing and screaming in pain as each wave racked his body. After what seemed like hours, the pain finally subsided, leaving him gasping and heaving. His body wanted to vomit, but nothing would come as his stomach was empty. Finally, his dry gagging stopped, breathing heavily. He took in his surroundings. Everything was the same as last night. Sighing, he noticed his voice was different. He tried speaking, but it only came out as a feral, gravelly bark. To confirm his suspicions, a three-fingered hand was in place of his, making him gasp. Quickly getting up and stumbling over to the mirror, he was met with a jet black raptor with white, almost silvery tiger stripes down his back and legs, and sky blue eyes. He was still wearing the InGen coat from before, but it looked a bit out of place, so he took it off. If he hadn't been so horrified with his situation, he would think he looked kinda cool. They were his favorite colors afterall. He gasped at the thought. Now it all made sense. Mr. Hopkins had asked him his favorite colors when he arrived. He was asking him what color raptor he wanted to be. He looked back at his bed and found that his shorts and underpants had been ripped because of his transformation. 'Great. At least I still have the clothes from when I got here... but I suppose I won't need them anymore...'

Sighing again, he decided that since he was a raptor now, he would try tracking down that raptor from before. Heading to his door, he fumbled with the handle for a minute, then finally figured out how to open it. Running quickly up the stairs and out of the building, he made his way into the forest.

He spent the next several hours in the dense woods, trying to sniff out the tell tale signs of predators, rotting flesh. His senses were very accute and in tune with everything around him. It amazed him at how well he seemed to fit in with his surroundings and meld with the jungle. Moving and weaving between the trees felt so natural with his new body, as he seemed to flow effortlessly through the jungle. The colors were vivid, the sounds were sharp, the smells strong, everything seemed so right. He could make out the calls of Bracheosaurs singing in the distance, the slight tremors of large predators walking through the forest, the leaves rustling in a quiet breeze, this place was truely a paradise now that he was equiped to survive it.

Soon, he smelled what he was searching for, the smell of rotting flesh, the smell of a predator. Though he couldn't understand why he knew, he knew that this particular smell was not the raptor from before. He knew it was raptor, and based on the slightly sweet smell, it was probably female. He froze, not making a sound as he listend for any sign of leaves rustling or feet plodding through the soft top soil. Testing the wind, he made out that it was comming from the morning sun, east, so he made sure to focus most of his attention in that direction. Slowly and carefully, he silently slipped into the forest in the direction of the scent. With each step, the scent grew alittle stronger. After walking for a few minutes, he stopped and crouched down low as the leaves of a bush about fifty feet infront of him rustled. Out of the bush came a white raptor with a black stripe down her back and black spots all over. She was walking at a leasure pace to the north, perpendicular to him. She didn't see him as he was crouched down low to the dark dirt, blending well with his surroundings. She seemed to be either scouting the area, or looking for something, as she would stop and smell the wind and look around, then continue her walk. He stayed low, hiding in the undergrowth, careful to stay downwind of her and not rustle any leaves. His black hide with silver tiger stripes made him nearly impossible to see when he was in the shadows of a tree or bush unless you were looking for him. After trailing her for several minutes, he decided to make himself known. Standing to his full height, not trying to hide his presence, he tried speaking.

"Hello?" It shocked him that he understood himself, even though he obviously wasn't speaking English. The raptor turned quickly and faced him, a look of shock in her eyes.

"What pack are you from?" She quickly growled questioningly, taking on a threatening stance, her killing claws raised and her teeth bared. Joseph quickly lowered his head submissively, trying to look as harmless as possible.

"I-I don't have a pack! I-I mean, I don't come from any pack! I swear! Don't kill me!" he stammered, whimpering slightly, his human instincts telling him to run for his life in fear.

She untensed her stance, taking on a less threatening demenor, seeing his obvious fear of her. She knew by his body language that he was scared to death of her and it probably took all of his courage to call out to her.

"It's alright, I believe you. I'm not going to hurt you unless you give me a reason to. My name is Whisper, Delta of the Leaf Pack. What's your name?" She asked with a chirping noise. She recognized his scent, but couldn't place it.

"Uh, I don't... well, I haven't thought of one yet... hehe..." he looked down shyly, embarrassed. Her gaze sofened even more, much to his shock. He thought she would laugh at him. He didn't want to go by his real name as he wasn't human anymore, and he still hadn't thought of a superhero name yet.

'Hmm, his parents must have died before he ever knew them. Well, Flare will be excited to see that I've discovered a rogue male.' "Well, I guess it's up to me to name you..." she said, taking in his appearance, which was still hard to see in the shadow of the tree he was standing in. "That's it! Your name is Shadow from this point forward. Do you want to be a part of our pack?"

'Damn, that name is already taken. Oh well, can't complain I guess.' "Uh, yeah, I do." He chirped hopefully.

"Alright then come with me to see the Alpha to find out if you can join. From this point until you join our pack, you will address me as Delta, then after you join, you will address me as Delta Whisper. You will address Alpha Flare as Alpha until you join, then you will address Flare as Alpha Flare. It's a sign of respect to those of higher rank. Just keep in mind that you are basically auditioning for a position as a Pack member, so show the proper respect and you should be fine." she said, walking away into the forest, Joseph, or Shadow as he is now known, followed closely behind.

"Yes, Delta. Thank you." he said, keeping his head low to show respect and submission, as he didn't want to die because of a misunderstanding. Little did he know that the last thing she, or any of the Leaf Pack wanted, was for him to die, as he was their only hope of restoring their pack. The only reason she didn't tell him and seem overly excited is because she didn't want to scare him away.

They continued to walk through the forest for about an hour, until many new smells filled his nose, all of them having the predator smell to them with an undertone of sweetness, suggesting a large number of females. Curiously, he didn't smell any male scents as they approached the source.

"Uh, Delta, I don't smell any males comming from the area we are headed. Are there any?"

She looked at him shocked, then answered. "How can you tell? I barely even smell the nesting grounds. We still have a whole hour's walk before we arrive."

"Really? Wow! Either my sense of smell is incredible, or yours isn't very good, which I doubt. A whole hour? Wow!" he said, shocked.

She glared at him slightly, but shook her head. He was probably a youngling, barely at the age of maturity.

"How old are you?" she asked. It was a simple question for a raptor, but humans didn't exactly age the same as raptors. He decided to dodge the question, as 18 was probably really old for a raptor.

"How old do you think I am?" He asked with a playful smirk.

"I'd say about a year, maybe a year and a half." She guessed.

"Well your pretty close. I'm just under two. A year and nine months, actually." he lied. In truth, he wasn't actually sure what 18 converted to in raptor years.

"Well, your certainly older than I thought, because you act like a hatchling." She giggled slightly. Shadow gave her a deadpanned expression.

"Thanks..." He said sarcastically. She outright laughed at his expression. "So, how old are you?"

"Three years, two months." She answered automatically. Shadow nodded in understanding.

The two walked for another hour, the smells slowly becomming stronger. Soon, they came to a small clearing, six other raptors all resting in random places at the base of several trees. They all looked up at the two, making Shadow extremely nervous, as his human instincts again screamed for him to run from these predators. It was all he could do to root himself in place and not run away. When six raptors are all looking at you, and standing from their resting places to approach you, don't tell me you wouldn't crap your pants. Well, being as he didn't have any pants to crap, he simply lowered his head and body, shaking slightly.

As he watched the raptors approach him, he quickly recognized one of them as the raptor from before. He was glad to have found the same pack from before, but was still scared. The raptor was the first to speak.

"Hello, my name is Flare, the Alpha of the Leaf Pack. What's your name?" she asked.

"U-uh, my n-name is... Sh-Shadow... I w-wish to join y-your pack, Alpha." He was stammering and stumbling over his words in his fear. His human instincts told him that she would eat him, but he had to keep reminding himself that he was a raptor now, too, and that he didn't have to fear that from them.

"Wait, you smell familiar..." Flare moved closer to him, sniffing him. Shadow began to worry, how would he tell this raptor that he was a human and then changed into a raptor. "Did you see a bipedal creature before you met Whisper? Please don't say you killed it. I wanted to learn about it. You smell like the creature."

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say I saw it, but no, I didn't kill it." He decided that telling the truth would be better, even if it was wierd. "I wouldn't commit suicide."

Flare gave him a curious look. "What do you mean? Are you saying you were that creature? Don't be a smart-tail. I'm not kidding. There was a creature that I want to learn about."

"I'm being serious. I am that creature. I was what was called a human. I remember you from the compound. You saw me in that building, along with another raptor. Later, I saw you on the other side of a window. You scared me at first, but when I went back to the window, you started hopping around like you were excited. I put my hand on the window and you put your head were my hand was. Remember?" He said.

Flare's eyes widened. "You, you are that creature! But what happened to you?"

"Someone put raptor DNA in me and it changed me into what you see now. When we saw each other, I was in the process of changing. It was... painful."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Will you be able to change back?" Flare asked.

"I hope so. I'm going back to the place where they injected me, see if I can't find a cure. But first, I have to get off the island."

"No, you can't! I mean... don't go. There has to be another way. Besides, being a raptor couldn't be all that bad, right?" Flare pleaded desperately.

Shadow looked at her desperate expression. "Well, I guess I could just wait for them here with you. It's possible the people who changed me will come to see if I changed."

Flare's jaws split into a soft grin, her eyes closed and curving into an eye smile. He found it strangely comforting. "Thank you, Shadow. You see, we have no males in our pack, as they were all killed in our last fight against the Grass Pack." Flare growled solemnly.

"...wait... what? Killed? How?" he asked shocked.

"They were murdered by Terror, the Alpha of that Pack. He's brutal and fierce. He showed no mercy. He left us females behind with our crushed eggs to slowly die out."

"That's... that's terrible." he looked down at the ground. "But what does that have to do with me staying?" He asked, not getting it.

"Well, you're a male raptor now, a male raptor who has asked to join our male-less pack, which automatically makes you the Alpha male." she said suggestively.

"Oh, you want me to lead the pack. But I don't know anything about being a raptor, other than simply being one by genetics. I don't know how raptors hunt. I don't know raptor customs, laws, or politics. I don't know how order is kept in a pack."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you all of that. It's really quite simple. That's kinda my job as the Alpha female. I'll take care of the stuff you can't do or don't have time for. Besides, since you are the only male, not only are you the Alpha, but you are my mate." She said, dropping the bomb on the former human. He just stared blankly at her for a minute, then fainted.

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Cynthia was anxious. No, not anxious, she was more than that. She couldn't damn wait to get off of that boat, dispite still having a whole night left before they would arrive. She constantly nagged the captain to make the boat move faster, but to no avail. The captain already had them going at full throttle. Any more and they would burn out the engine before they got there. So, Cynthia simply sat in her quarters, anxiously twiddling her thumbs and driving herself mad with worry for Joseph. Then a knock on her door roused her from her 'thoughts.'

Openning the door, she found Timothy, an Irish friend of her's and sort of her second in command of the team. When he had heard about Joseph's capture, he was appauled. In all of his years working for InGen, he never would have thought they would stoop so low.

"Yes, Tim? What do you need?" Cynthia asked.

"I need to talk to you about the crew..." He said in his unique accent. Cynthia invited him in. "I've spoken with most of them, and a majority of them do not support your movement. They had prior knowledge of the boy and are working for the bastard. Seven of them refused to say anything at all and had a distinctly military aura about them. We'll have to tred lightly and be careful when we reach the Island."

"Alright, well, who is on our side?" She asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Well, I made up list of them, and, unfortunately, it isn't long." He said, showing her the realativly short list. Cynthia paled. A vast majority of the team was for the experiment, while only a handful had her view on the matter. Out of thirty seven team members, only five were on her side, Timothy included. The odds were surely against her.

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Shadow finally came to after few minutes, slightly unsure of where he was. So when he saw Flare, he panicked.

"AAAHHH! Don't eat me!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet and attempting to run away, only to fall flat on his face, spread eagle.

"Whoah whoah! Calm down! I'm not going to eat you!" She yelled. Luckily, the other raptors had lost interest a few minutes after he had passed out and didn't see him freak out.

"Oh, right. I forgot, hehe." he laughed awkwardly.

"I can see that." She smiled slightly, amused by his animated character.

"What happend!" Shouted wind as she quickly approached. "I heard a scream!"

"Calm down. Shadow here just kinda forgot he was a raptor and was startled by me when he woke up." Flare explained quickly.

"Hehe, oh, okay then." She giggled in a raptor-like way, then strutted away, still giggling. Shadow sweat-dropped and gave Flare and embarrassed grin. His grin dropped suddenly as he growled in pain and held his stomach.

"Ugh! What's happening..." He struggled to say. Soon the pain became more than he could stand and he fell to the ground, not even able to scream from the massive pain. It was all over, everything hurt.

"Shadow, are you alright? Shadow!" She nudged him gently, worried. She watched as he convulsed on the ground, his eyes shut tight and saliva ran freely from his agape mouth which formed his silent scream. His ears rang as the pain overwhelmed him. Flare watched in horror as a strange black smoke began to rise from his skin, like the solidification of a shadow. At first she worried he would catch on fire, but felt no heat other than his natural warm blood. It was then that she noticed his body changing before the smoke completely obscured her view. The other raptors also gathered around, curious about the smoke. A minute passed before the smoke began to clear, leaving a naked human boy laying on the ground, his face blank. Oddly, he was still conscious.

"Ow..." he breathed. The pain began to completely fade as he once again could see his surroundings. He looked up to Flare after a moment, then glanced down at himself. His face went red as he tried to cover himself from the females' fascinated stare.

"Y-You changed back!" Flare said with a strange mix of happiness and sadness. She even felt wierd from the way she had said it. It was then that realization kicked in and he gasped in surprise.

"AAhhhaaa! I'm human again! Yes! Boo ya! Yahoo! Wait! Oh no... PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" He screamed.

"We won't eat you!" Flare screamed at him, angry that she had to tell him again within ten minutes.

"Wait, I can still understand you... That means... Something is still different..." He said, looking down at himself again. At first he didn't see anything, but then noticed his hands had sharp nails on the end of each finger, as well as each toe. He also felt that his teeth were still pointed. He carefully felt his face and felt rough, scaled skin around his eyes. Getting up quickly, he ran at high speeds to the nearby river to see his reflection. Although distorted by the flow of water, he could see the black scales surrounded his eyes like insomnia rings and his eyes were still slitted. "Why didn't I change back completely!" he shouted at the river. He paused, then thought about it. "Why did I even change at all!"

Shadow was confused. He could have sworn he saw little question marks dancing around his head as he stared at his reflection. This was just too weird. Flare crept up behind him worriedly, cautiously inspecting his new form.

"Maybe I can make myself change back and forth. I mean, if I'm an experiment, then they would have thought of everything... right? Let's try..." He mumbled to himself, closing his eyes and consentrating on his fully human form. He waited and... nothing happend. "Okay, maybe not. I guess I'm already in 'human' form, even if it's not complete. I am an experiment. Let's try raptor this time..." He focused on his raptor form and... suddenly a pain erupted from his... everywhere. Though not as painful as before, it still hurt like hell. He grit his teeth and groaned as the same black smoke burned at his eyes, forcing them closed. He felt his body shifting again, as the bones reformed and went to their appropriate places and his muscles shifted.

Flare watched in mute fascination and slight horror as he again began to smoke that same smoke from before, his groning slowly morphing into that of a raptor's growl. Sooner than before, a black raptor with silver stripes emerged from the dissapaiting smoke.

"Ugh... I wish it didn't hurt so much..." He growled with a headache which soon faded completely.

"You changed again..." She said, wondering if he was going to keep spontainiously changing back and forth.

"Yeah, except this time I did it on purpose." He smiled and looked at her. She raised her... 'eyebrows' at his smile then spoke.

"How can you just do that?" She asked, not understanding.

"I don't know. Ask the jerk who did this to me." He said, slightly frustrated at the memory of the scientist. Flare looked a bit saddened at his reply. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just as confused as you are." He paused for a moment to think about what to do next. "I'm going back to the compound to get my spare clothes and guns. You can come with me if you want."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Though it's best if our groups travel in threes." She added.

"Who did you have in mind to bring?" Shadow asked, curious.

"Wind of course. She's my second in command." She chirped.

"Okay, bring her then. We move now." He barked authoritativly. She nodded then called to Wind who appeared a few seconds later.

"You called, Alpha?" Wind asked Flare. "Oh Shadow, you changed back! Wonderful!" She chirped happily.

"Yes I did. I can change back and forth at will it seems. It will come in handy. We're headed back to the compound where you found me. I have some possessions there that I'd like to retrieve. Let's move." He ordered, taking off in a sprint in the direction of the compound. Both Flare and Wind took off behind him.

In less than an hour, they had arrived at the compound and entered it. The three trotted down the metal steps into the hatchery, then moved over to the metal door. It was slightly ajar, so Shadow simply nudged it open and walked inside, Flare and Wind following closely behind.

"I'm going to chage back into human form to carry these. It would be easier for me, as I could wear the clothes while I carried the gun bag." He said, to which Flare nodded. "Here goes..." he closed his eyes again, then focused on his human form. Several seconds later, the black smoke cleared and there he stood in all his glory. Moving quickly, he grabbed his clothes and put them on, then put all of his weapons and rations in the duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. It was lighter than he remembered it, but he knew that he had everything.

"Alright, let's go." He said, moving back out the door. Wind quickly followed him. Flare took one last look around the room and smiled gently as she sniffed the room, then slid out of the room and caught up with the others.

"Shadow, do you think that this place would be a good place for our pack to stay?" Flare asked carefully as they exited the building.

He shrugged before saying, "I don't know. I personally like it better because it reminds me of civilization, but I don't know if a raptor pack would like it very much. Why are you asking me anyway? It's your choice." he said.

"Actually, it's your choice." She added cryptically with a smile. He gave her a confused look. "Your the alpha, remember?" Realization dawned on him.

"Oh, but I thought that since I was human that I wouldn't be able to lead your pack." He said, making a point.

"But you're also a raptor, so you can lead." She added, making a good counter point. He nodded in understanding.

"Alright, but do you like it in the compound?" She nodded. "Will the pack like it?"

"Well, your their leader, so of course." She said a matter-of-factly.

"I guess we could stay there, but if any of the pack say otherwise, we'll move back out." He said in a final manner.

"That's fair." Flare shrugged indifferently.

The rest of the trip back to the nesting grounds was rather uneventful, as the sun slowly began to set in the west.

Soon, the three arrived at the nesting grounds. Shadow moved to a tree that was near the center of the nest and began to climb up it, using his new claws to latch onto the bark. Reaching a satisfactory height, he looped the gun bag on a branch, then took out his D'eagle to clean and inspect it. Removing the clip and the bullet from the barrel, he unlatched the slider from the stock and used his camoflage jacket to wipe down the inner workings of the gun. Inspecting his work, he then reassembled the pistol with almost practiced ease. Holstering the gun in the back of his belt, he retrieved his M 21 and placed it resting against a branch. Leaning back to the bag, he retrieved the shotgun and hung it from a branch, then pulled out the Uzi. He inspected this one as well, being that he hadn't done so at all when he first acquired it. Finding it in satisfactory condition, he placed it in a nook in the tree's branches to hold it securely. Glancing down at the raptors below him, he spotted Flare and another raptor watching him intently as he worked. He gave a slight smile and pulled out the flask and sipped some water. Putting it in his coat pocket, he pulled his knife from his pant pocket and checked the sharpness. It was good enough. Putting that away, he then moved back down the tree with only his D'eagle, spare clip, flask, and pocket knife. Upon reaching the ground, Flare approached him.

"What are those tools you have that you take such care of?" She asked with a chirp.

"They are called guns. They can kill something from a distance if necessary by launching a small metal slug at high speeds. They are what humans use instead of claws and teeth, being that they don't have any." He answered.

"Oh? So they are better than our claws and teeth?" She asked with a sly smile.

"Well, if you see a human point one at you, I wouldn't advise running at him to fight, as you would probably be dead before you could get close enough." He replied with a smile. His smile faded slightly as he thought about it. "If you ever see one pointed at you, run away. Promise me you'll run." He spoke quietly, worry obvious in his voice.

Flare saw his serious expression. "Alright, I promise." She said with serious, quiet tone. Even if he hadn't known her long, he still cared for her.

"Thanks." He said with a small smile. "Alright, pack. Gather around." He said in a louder voice, which the pack quickly moved around him. "Tomorrow, we're moving to a new nest site. It's better protected and more hospitable. It may take some getting used to, but trust me, it's great." He said in a commanding, but friendly voice.

"Yes, Alpha: Shadow." The whole pack said at once, even Flare. It both unnerved him and made him feel powerful in a strange way. He had all of these majestic, deadly creatures at his command, ready to follow him anywhere. It was most certainly a good feeling. "Alright, everyone, it's time to turn in for the night. Get some sleep. It's not too far, but it's a couple hours walk from here. We'll hunt after we've arrived and settled in. Agreed?"

"Yes Alpha: Shadow." They responded.

"Good. Carry on." he said, moving back to his tree and sitting down at the base. Flare moved next to him and lay down, curling her body in an arc around him.

"You did well for your first pack meeting." She said with a smirk.

"I just said what needed to be said. I don't like beating around the bush, so to speak. I like to make my point quickly and move on."

"So do I." She agreed.

"Well, see ya in the morning. We've got alot to do tomorrow." He sighed, leaning back against the tree and closing his eyes.

"Good night." She whispered, then laid her her head down and drifted off to sleep.


	6. The Test Begins

Chapter 6: The Test Begins

Day 6: Friday

Dr. Hopkins strolled into the main laboratory of InGen headquarters in the morning to find his client for the Super-Soldier Syrum waiting for him there. One of his own assistants approached him before he could greet the tall, muscular black man. (Think of the actor Michael Clarke Duncan from 'The Green Mile'. The big black dude. he's awesome. XD)

"Doctor, the countdown for the changes to become complete expired as of 0324 hours. If the subject is alive, then his changes should be complete." The shorter man said, adjusting his glasses.

"Good. Please continue to monitor the teams' progress." He said, walking passed the man.

"Yes, Doctor."

"Ah, General Howard, good of you to stop by. As you've probably been told, the changes to the subject are complete." he said, shaking the general's hand firmly.

"Good morning, Dr. Hopkins. Yes, I have been briefed on the progress. Unfortunately, I've heard that the volunteer has already been sent to the Island. I was hoping to meet Mr. Gallant in person. I've read his file, but I like to meet my men face to face." he said with a deep baritone that was pleasant to listen to.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry. We actually had him sent there the day of the injection. He's been there nearly a week already. We wanted to make sure he was familiar with the island before he actually changed, as well as test 'In the Field' change patterns so that chosen soldiers could be injected without having to be pulled from the lines." He informed.

"Oh really? I didn't know you sent another team before this one." He said, indicating the little dot on the big screen that was slowly approaching the digital representation of Isla Sorna.

"We didn't actually. We sent him first so the changes could take place. Then we sent a follow up team to document and retrieve him after he's already done the research."

"What? Why would you send such a high value person into hostile territory without a team. Especially one that the military paid millions for. The syrum you injected into him was extremly valuable." The general questioned incredulously.

"We were tight on time, sir. We also didn't have enough people to send two teams." The Doctor said nervously.

"I don't care. If he's dead I'm going to pull all funding to InGen and have you arrested for murder." The General said darkly.

"Murder? How did I commit murder?"

"You sent a young man to a dangerous island alone." he said simply.

"He went willingly. He asked me to send him."

"I doubt it, but again, I don't care. You were his employer and supervisor. You could have said no. What you did was attempted murder already, that is if he is still alive. I could have you arrested now, but if he somehow pulls through, I'll let you off the hook." General Howard said, turning his attention back to the screen. "As far as I'm concerned, he was one of my men as soon as he volunteered to be your test subject. My marines will find him and bring him back alive, because they leave no man behind. Understand, Doctor?" he said, glancing back at Dr. Hopkins.

"Yes, General." He replied shakily.

"Now when my team has established communications with us on the island, I'm changing their orders. They're on a shoot-on-sight policy at the moment. It was meant to test his abilities. Their orders are to wound and capture with excessive force being that he's considered a super-soldier. I'm changing it to an extraction mission." The General said with determination.

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Cynthia was finally off of that stupid boat and on dry land. She was thankful for that at least. As the team began moving equipment off of the boat, seven soldiers with guns moved off into the woods, possibly to set up a perimeter.

"I guess Tim was right. Seven of them were military." She sighed to herself. She stared off into the woods again with her hands on her hips and a determined expression on her face.

"Ma'am, we'll be departing soon. Please board the research vehicle." A worker said from behind her.

"Alright, thanks." She said with a false smile, since he was one of the men who knew about the kidnapping. She moved quickly to the large R.V. and openned the cabin door and sat down at the table where Tim was writing in a journal. The other four people who could be trusted were in the back of the vehicle, talking to one another. The first was Mike Harris. He had worked with Cynthia on the raptor project since she had first become the head researcher. The next was a woman a few years older than her. Her name was Bethany Clark, and she had been second incharge of the research on the super predators project that InGen was working to keep secret. The third was Joshua Morris, the one who knew everything there was to know about Tyrannosaurs. He was as crazy about the T-rexes as Cynthia was about raptors. She was glad that they agreed to help her, as she would need all the help she could get. The driver simply started up the vehicle and followed the caravan of Jeeps, Hummers, and other jungle vehicles.

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Shadow awoke to a smile and a happy chirp from Flare, who had nudged him awake.

"Oh, morning Flare." he yawned.

"Good morning. I see you didn't freak out like last time." She chirped with a larger smile.

"Well, I did dream about my situation all night, so I'm used to the idea now." He said, getting up. He stretched his body and popped his back and neck a few times, then climbed the tree similar to a certain spider hero to get his weapons and food. Packing his bag quickly, he slung the bag over his shoulder, as well as the shotgun, then decended the tree with relative ease. Checking to make sure the rest of the raptors were awake, he then addressed the pack.

"We're moving out now so that we can arrive at the new nesting grounds early. If we want to hunt later, we'll have to get moving now. The trip will take about an hour and a half. Any questions?" He waited for a few seconds. "Alright, let's move. Flare, you take the front of the pack. I'll keep us protected from behind."

"Yes, Alpha: Shadow." Flare replied, then moved to lead the pack to the compound. Shadow scanned the perimeter as the pack moved out, then moved behind the last raptor. He noticed a few of the raptors giving him slightly questionable stares as they walked. They looked hostile, but he shook it off.

As Shadow scanned the trees behind the pack, the last raptor in line moved next to him.

"A-Alpha: Shadow?" A white raptor with yellow tiger stripes asked in a shy purr.

"Yes?" Shadow replied, not taking his eyes off the jungle around him.

"Would you like me t-to carry your bag for you?" She asked tentatively. Shadow considered this for a moment, thinking about the pros and cons of not having his equipment strapped to him.

"The bag would only slow you down if we were attacked. It's best if I hold onto it. I would only be putting you in danger if I were to let you hold it." He said, still watching the foliage around him like a hawk. The raptor seemed to blush slightly.

"I-I'm not weak, Alpha. It wouldn't slow me down." She said resolutely.

Shadow glanced at the raptor apraisingly. She seemed youthful and strong. He didn't doubt her strength. "What's your name?" he asked with a glance and a slight smile.

"S-Sunbeam. I am Omega: Sunbeam, Alpha." She replied, thrown off guard by his question.

She was the lowest ranking raptor in the pack, as well as the most shy of the group. He smiled.

"Alright, since you seem to be eager to hold it, I'll let you. Just keep this in mind: that bag is not worth your life. If you're in danger, get rid of it and run. Understand, Omega: Sunbeam?"

"Understood, Alpha: Shadow. It's an honor to carry this for you." She smiled, happily lowering her head as Shadow put the strap around her neck and behind one of her arms. She didn't seem to notice the weight of the bag much, as she continued the same pace as before with little trouble.

"It's an honor to be your Alpha." He replied, turning his gaze back to the forest, his shotgun at the ready. If he had watched Sunbeam, he would have noticed a blush spread across her snout.

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"Hold up, marines." The man with a patch for Sergeant Major on his Special Ops uniform whispered into his com device. His M4A1 SOPMOD Carbine at the ready, scanning the gorge before him. "Brennek, move up and scan the area." He said.

A man of middle height with a corporal patch moved to the edge of the gorge and peered through the scope of his Barret M82A1 .50 Calibur Sniper Rifle, scanning into the gorge for any sign of life. Nothing could be seen through the dense canopy of the jungle, but he did see an old compound near the middle of the gorge. At the far end, about two miles away, he saw a massive concrete dam with a small lake near the bottom.

"Sergeant Major, there is a compound about a half-kilometer away in the middle of the gorge. I suggest we use it as a base and our first place to search." Brennek said as he stood from the edge and approached the Sergeant Major.

"Agreed. Alright team, there is a compound in that gorge. I want that place turned inside out and taken as our HQ. We'll set up our communications dish there. Everything here runs on thermal power, so we'll just tap into the power in that building to power our communications equipment. Let's move, marines." He said, then turned to the gorge and began his decent into it, his team following quickly.

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The pack moved quickly and silently through the thick jungle, effortlessly weaving back and forth through the trees at an average of 10 miles per hour, meaning they would arrive very soon. Suddenly, Flare stopped, the rest of the pack stopping as well. Shadow moved up to where Flare was, keeping his eyes on the forest.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

"I smell something... foreign." She growled in a low whisper. Shadow sniffed the air but only smelled the forest.

"I don't smell anything..."

"It's very faint, but it's getting stronger." She said, staring in the direction of the compound. Shadow looked confused a moment before he relized. 'My nasal cavity is smaller when I'm human, no wonder.' He thought, before stripping down from his last set of clothes. Flare watched him as the black mist from before surrounded him, then faded, leaving him in his raptor form.

Shadow tested the air, before he smelled it. It was very strong to him, and he recognized it. The smell of sweat and human body odor was nearly gagging him until he directed his consentration away from the smell. Changing back in a cloud of black, he replaced his clothes and picked up his shotgun and pistol. He paced to Sunbeam and grabbed his air rifle with five tranquilizer darts, and slung the rifle onto his back and pocketed the darts.

"Looks like the people who changed me are here to see if their little experiment worked." He said with a scowl, bringing his shotgun to a more ready position. "I'm going to give them a little greeting. Continue to the compound and await my arrival." He said, then took off into the foliage.

"W-Wait!" Flare called, but he was already gone.

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Cynthia watched the jungle trees go by as the convoy of research trucks and bush jeeps careened through the woodlands. Soon they came to a large clearing were a massive group of herbavores fed. The vehicles stopped at the edge of the clearing to watch the magnificant animals graze.

Cynthia stared almost passively at the animals, too worried about the situation at hand to enjoy the scene. As she thought, something suddenly popped up in her mind.

"Those military guys! Where are those guys? I haven't seen them since we left the beach." She asked Tim.

"Oh bollocks! I noticed them leave the beach well before we were ready to leave. I have no idea what they are doing. I don't even know their purpose because our team already has men with weapons to protect us. Of course, they are just untrained mercs and big game hunters, but why send a military team with a bunch of researchers?" he asked, trying to figure out what James Hopkins had planned.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling Joseph is in more trouble than we originally thought." She said, worry in her voice.

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Shadow bolted through the jungle with ease, jumping over downed redwoods like nothing, weaving between thorn bushes without a scratch, and blasting through debris like it wasn't even there. Eventually he jumped up to a low branch and stopped to look around the area. Suddenly he smelled the same sent from before, but due to his current form, it wasn't as strong. It was however, very close.

Scanning with his shotgun, he looked in the direction the wind was comming from, trying to peer through the thick foliage.

Movement! He had seen something. He squinted to further increase his already perfect vision. Then he saw it. About 80 yards into the woods, he could see the glint of black metal and the dull fabric of camoflage. From what he could see, about four or five men with guns were slipping from tree to tree, moving in the direction of the compound. Were they comming to kill him or something? He didn't want to take that chance. There was a stream a couple hundred yards ahead of the group, if Shadow remembered correctly. They would most likely stop for a refil of their canteens, and at least be more consentrated on the stream rather than what's around them. He could ambush them there.

Slinging his shotgun over his shoulder and securing it on his back with his air rifle, as well as making sure his pistol was secure, he jumped silently through the trees on the branches to get to the stream.

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It didn't take him long to reach the stream using his abilities while moving through the trees. He kinda felt like a monkey with the way he was able to skip from tree branch to tree branch by simply jumping.

Once he found a suitable branch that gave him a good view of the stream, he waited for the group of what he asumed were men sent to kill him. He wasn't far off, in that they would shoot on sight, but it was only to subdue and capture rather than kill.

He didn't want to kill them, just incapsitate them and bring them to the compound to be held hostage to allow him to get his demands. He wanted his old life back. He wanted them to change him back to what he was before. He wanted off the island. That's it. These men will help him get it when he bargains with InGen.

A snap of a twig brought him out of his thoughts, his gaze refocusing on the small clearing with the stream. A group of seven men entered the clearing and scanned the area with their guns. Their really big guns. He glanced at his shotgun in shame. Their weapons were much larger and longer range than his. Not only that, but they looked like U.S. Marines Special Forces. How was he supposed to compete with that? A few of the guns he recognized from his time playing video games. One had an M249 SAW, another had an M4A1 Carbine, and another had a Milkor Multi-Grenade Launcher. Peering a bit closer, he also saw a Barret M82A1 .50 Calibur Sniper Rifle. A few others had some other assult rifles, but he couldn't quite make them out from his position.

The marines stopped and gathered closer together and began to speak quietly, just quiet enough to where the stream drowned out their voices. Shadow jumped back to the branch behind him, then dropped down to the forest floor. Moving quickly but silently, he approached the group. He got to a closer position just as they finished and spread out to take a small break. A majority of them sat down near the stream and rested their legs, while two of them headed in opposite directions into the woods, most likely to answer the call of nature. One of them moved toward Shadow, completely oblivious to the human/raptor hybrid stalking him. The man with an HK416 stopped about tewnty feet into the woods and unzipped his pants at a tree. Shadow quietly crept up behind the vulnerable man and hit him in the back of his head hard enough to knock the man out cold just after he had finished using the tree. The man went down with a silent 'Oof' and colapsed. Searching the man's pack, he found ten wire ties. Taking one, he used it to bind the man's hands behind his back. Moving quickly, he removed the man's equipment and jumped up to a branch on the tree he was using and hung the equipment there, removing a flash grenade from the pack for later use. Jumping back down, he hoisted the man on his back and jumped back onto the branch and laid him in the tree to protect him from the local wildlife. Shadow purposely left the rifle on the ground near the tree as a trap for later.

Shadow moved back to his view of the clearing and saw that the other man who had answered the call of nature had yet to return. Curious, he went around the group's resting place and crossed the stream and followed the man's scent. Just as he was about to leap into a tree to look around, he heard a horrified scream. Jumping quickly into the tree, he saw the man pinned by a Deinonychus, being ripped to shreds. He was already dead by the time Shadow had his gun ready to shoot. Suddenly, automatic fire openned up on the large raptor, ripping it to shreds much like he had done to the marine. The raptor landed in a heap next to the dead marine, blood pooling around it and soaking the ground. The remaining squad quickly dashed to the marine and checked him.

"He's gone Sarg." One said sadly. Shadow felt pity for them, as he knew what the death of a friend was like.

"Vince..." The one in charge whispered in reverence. He sighed. "Sergeant Daren, get his dogtags and equimpent. We have no choice but to leave him here." he said to the second in command. He looked around briefly. His expression changed from sadness to anxiety. "Where's Carson?" He asked. He put his finger to the earpiece and spoke. "Carson? Come in. This is Sergeant Major Peterson. Respond. Corporal Joel Carson, come in." He cursed under his breath. "Ramirez, go with Brennek and look for him."

"Yes, Sergeant Major." Ramirez said snappily, then sprinted back in the direction of the stream, Brennek in close pursuit. Shadow dropped back into the thick foliage and dashed back to the other side of the river.

Shadow made it back to the other side and waited in a high branch twenty feet from the tree his first prisoner was in. Unslinging his dart rifle, he loaded a tranq dart and waited.

The two men came into view roughly fifteen feet from each other, scanning the woods with their rifles, being much more cautious after having seen their comrade dead in a gruesome display. One stopped near the tree Carson used as a bathroom and spotted the rifle on the ground near it.

"Hey! Ramirez! I found Carson's rif-ugh!" Brennek suddenly collapsed with a dart in his neck. Ramirez was about to ask what happened when everything suddenly went black.

Shadow waited for Brennek to call out his find, as Ramirez was right below his branch. Once he called it out, Shadow fired his air rifle with a silent 'Thwoosh' at Brennek, and immediately dropped down on Ramirez, knocking him out on impact with the rifle's butt.

Pulling off Ramirez's equipment and setting it aside, Shadow immediately went to work tying his hands behind his back. After that, he moved to Brennek's prone body and policed his equipment before tying his hands. Feeling generous, Shadow removed the now empty dart from his neck and tossed it into the tree needle first, then went to work hiding the unconscious marines from harm.

"Three left..." he said to himself, dusting himself off and pulling an eight inch fixed-blade knife from Ramirez's tactical vest. He slipped the sheathed weapon into his belt and lept back to the branch overseeing the clearing. The others will come looking soon.

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Flare and the pack had finally made it to the compound, much to her relief. She was, however, still anxious since Shadow had yet to return. Had something happend to him? She didn't know, and it was a possiblity that she would never find out. It left her mind unsettled, and it showed in her posture.

"Flare, is something wrong?" Wind purred softly to her alpha, seeing her obvious distress. The pack simply opted to wait in the lobby of the compound rather than go any deeper.

"No. Everything's fine. I've just got a bad feeling is all." She said in a dismissive manner, but Wind knew her better.

"Your worried about Shadow, aren't you." She said. Though it was worded like a question, it was clearly a statement. Flare sighed.

"He'll be fine. I just get weird feelings sometimes."

"It's called instinct. Sometimes they're wrong, but they generally keep us safe." Wind reassured. She was slightly older and knew about these kinds of things.

"I know what it is. I'm not a hatchling. I'm just waiting for the feeling to pass." She said neutrally. She wasn't mad at Wind, just simply stating a fact.

"Like you said: he'll be fine. Shadow is... unique. He seems pretty tough to me, dispite being scared of the littlest things. That might actually keep him safe in the long run. Caution is an admirable trait in these woods." Wind said, staring out of the lobby the pack was currently waiting in. The group simply relaxed while they waited for their hybrid alpha to return. Wind decided to change the subject. "It seems like only yesterday that all of this territory belonged to the Grass Pack."

"I was only a hatchling then. Something had the Grass Pack distracted while we were able to simply move in. They had been looking for something in the outer rim of the territories. When they came back, we had claimed the area. Their matriarch was furious. Luckily, before she could get back at us, the Spined One came and killed off some of their pack, her included. That's when Terror took over. They've been getting more aggressive ever since." Flare recalled, thankful to Wind for changing the subject. She loved telling and listening to stories, especially when they were true and had to do with their heritage.

"Yeah, and ever since, the Spined One has come back ever so often and kept both sides in check. I like to think of him, not as an oppressor, but as a balancer. Nature never oppresses, it simply seeks equilibrium. The Spined One is the imbodiment of balance." Wind said whistfully. She had obviously thought alot about this, which Flare found amusing.

"Well, there is more than just one Spined One. Actually, I've heard that there are actually around six or seven of them spread equally throughout the territories." Flare replied a-matter-of-factly.

"Of course. One wouldn't be able to keep the balance in all of the territories. Even the Kings need to have limits. No ruler is all powerful. Once the Kings become too numerous, a Spined One comes. The Spined One guards the life in the territories so that no one species becomes too numerous or too few." Wind spoke with wisdom. Flare smiled, now that she had something else to think about. Wind was always there to keep her in check.

"Thanks, Wind. I needed that." Flare purred thankfully.

"It's my job, Alpha." Wind nodded, then laid her head down to rest.

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The research caravan had since moved on, scaring the grazing dinosaurs out of the game trail. The trail served as an easy route to take for the larger vehicles and let them travel quite far in a short period of time. Soon, the end of the large clearing came to an end at a small river. They set up a camp near the edge of the woods, the vehicles forming a protective circle around the small camp. Cynthia was reminded of the game trail InGen had used to gather specimens to revive the park in San Diego, which ended in the tragic and infamous 'San Diego Incident.' She had still been in her mid teens when that had happend. She had seen the Tyrant King in person, prowling the streets of San Diego. Ever since then, she had been fascinated with dinosaurs. After more research, the raptors had caught her interest more than anything else. Thus her career began.

Cynthia sighed. If only she had known then what she knew now... So many mistakes could have been prevented. She shook her head in annoyance, pushing the pointless thoughts from her troubled mind. As she watched the research team set up the camp, she couldn't help but wonder if Joseph was alright.

"Cynthia, could you give me a hand with this?" Tim asked, trying to carry a rather bulky piece of equipment with his thin frame.

"Alright." She shrugged, moving to help the guy who had a habit of biting off more than he could chew.

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"Ugh! Where is Ramirez and Brennek?" The Sergeant Major huffed in annoyance after having called Ramirez and Brennek on the headsets for the fourth time.

"We should probably check on them, Sergeant Major. I haven't heard anything at all from them on the comm. They could be encountering some of the local hostiles." the second in command said to his leader, glancing back at the covered form of their fallen comrade.

"Sigh... Agreed. Let's move." He ordered, then they raced back in the direction their missing teammates went.

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Shadow watched the remaining marines enter the small clearing and cross the stream quickly. They seemed so focused on finding their teammates that they weren't noticing their surroundings. They stopped after they crossed the stream and scanned the forest with their rifles.

"They never look up..." Shadow whispered to himself with a shake of his head as he loaded another dart into the rifle. As the marines moved closer to the location with the unconscious men, Shadow quickly dropped into the thicker foliage to ready his plan.

Shadow peeked through the leaves of his cover and waited for the men to enter his line of sight. The first of them came into view, scanning the forest with wary eyes. He was Sergeant Daren. Next, the other two came into view. They were in a standard delta formation, moving as a trained unit in a rough triangle, covering all directions. He nodded in approval. At least they weren't total idiots. Unfortunately for them, he was prepared. Careful not to disturb the leaves around him, he pulled the flash grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, still holding the release lever so it wouldn't go off yet. He waited patiently for the right moment, then released the grenade into a shallow arc, then he hid his eyes.

The grenade flashed at eye level with the two men behind Daren. Blind and deaf, the two men stumbled out of formation. Shadow took aim, then fired a dart at the first, knocking him out cold, while simultaneously dashing from his cover and slamming the butt of his rifle into the other blinded man. Daren was only deafened, since he wasn't facing the flash. The bang caused him to hit the ground and duck in cover as a first reaction. As a result, he didn't see the blur that was Shadow knock out and retrieve the two unconscious men right out from under his nose.

Shadow quickly set the two men down in the forest, growing even more surprised by his strength. Policing their equipment, binding their hands, and putting them in a tree, he moved back to a position where he could watch the last man standing.

"Sergeant Major? Mildren? Oh hell..." Sergeant Daren said, looking around frantically, his ears still ringing slightly. Did the dinosaurs learn to use flash grenades? No! That's impossible. Preposterous! No way! Someone was out there, taking them out a little at a time. That monster that killed Jones was just a fluke. Someone was working them down and taking them out with trained precision. But why was there a counter-military team here on Isla Sorna? Then it snapped. The guy they were supposed to test and capture, it was him! He was the one doing this! "I know your out there! You FREAK! You're just an experiment! Drugs and biogenetics will never replace good old, home grown marines! You HAVE to be REALLY SICK in the HEAD to volunteer for something like this!" he screamed, his fear converting to rage.

Shadow was insulted when he had called him a freak, but saying he had volunteered for this? That was too far. With speed he never knew he had, he rushed at the man from a bush several feet away. The man saw him at the last second and turned to shoot at him, but the barrel of his SAW was caught before he could even line up the shot. Daren stared in fear at what appeared to be nothing more than a teenager, holding his gun. His eyes were shadowed by his hair, but dispite that, Daren could feel the rage whelling up in the boy.

"I didn't volunteer for this." The boy said quietly, the anger in his voice making it sound like a low growl. Daren tried to pull the gun away from him, but the hand wouldn't budge. Instead, the kid tightend his grip and bent the barrel at a right angle, rendering the gun usless.

Shadow yanked the gun from the fearful man's grip, tossing the gun into the woods. Daren fell backward, fear clouding his judgement as he crawled back. He pulled a combat knife from his tactical vest, flipped it and held it by the blade, then threw it at the freak.

Shadow, seeing the blade comming at an unnaturally slow pace, simply caught the knife by the handle about four inches from his chest. Daren stared in shock as he began to back away from this monster, trying to put as much distance between him and it. Shadow simply dropped the blade and drew his pistol, pointing it at the man.

Daren froze. Was he really going to shoot him? Was this the end? He was going to die by some mutated freak? He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. Instead, the butt of the pistol met the top of his head, sending him into blissful unconsciousness.

Shadow was miffed that the man had the guall to call him a volunteer for this crap. He really wanted to just beat the hell out of him, but he settled for simply knocking him out. Stowing his lucky gun, he removed his equipment and tied his hands like the rest.

After gathering all of the mens' equipment and guns and placing them in a pile, he then gathered the men themselves and placed them near the edge of the stream. He crouched down, trying to think about how he would move them to the compound.

"The raptors! I can ask for their help." he said to himself. Then he paused. "But how can I call them from here? I can't leave these men here." He sat near the marines in a thinking pose, trying to figure out someway to call to them. 'Well, they are raptors, so they would respond to raptor calls.' 'There's no way I could call loud enough for them to hear.' 'Just try.' 'But...' 'Shadow... speak!' He sighed, then stood up with a determined expression. Taking a deep breath, he let loose the loudest raptor bark he could muster. He was surprised when the branches of the trees infront of him were blown back slightly from the force of his call. 'MAN, it's almost like a super bark!' He thought with wide eyes.

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Flare's head shot up when a loud call for help reached her ears. Dispite how loud it was, it sounded like it was quite far away, which confused her. The call sounded like Shadow, which was confirmed when Wind voiced her thoughts. "Was that Shadow?" She asked with an incredulous expression.

"Yeah, it sounded like him. We should go. He might need us." Flare stood abruptly and ran out of the compound in the direction of the noise.

"Get up, pack! Follow Alpha: Flare. Alpha: Shadow has called for our assistance." Wind ordered, then followed Flare out into the woods. The pack was in close pursuit.

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The Alpha of the Grass pack was lazily lounging in his nest after a good hunt when an unfamiliar call for help roused him and the rest of his pack from their semi-sleeping state.

"I don't recognize that call. I'm not going to answer it. I'm going back to sleep." He said, then flopped his head back onto the soft dirt of his nest. The other raptors simply shrugged and followed their leader's example.

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Shadow waited cautiously, as he didn't know exactly what would respond to a raptor call other than raptors. Would a super predator come to investigate the noise? Would raptors he didn't know come? He didn't know, so he scanned the perimeter of the woods with the ACR Ramirez carried.

Within a few minutes, a rustle in the surrounding forest made Shadow on edge. He trained his rifle on the bush and waited.

"Shadow?" He heard from a familiar voice.

"Yeah, it's me Flare." He greeted casually, lowering his weapon. She along with the rest of the pack entered the clearing, staring at the unconscious humans near the stream.

"Are they the one's who changed you?" Flare asked, growling at the unconscious forms.

"No, but they will help me make the ones who did, change me back. I've been doing a little thinking. I was an experiment. They wanted to test me, to see how well I would fare on the most hostile island in the world. They wouldn't send this team to just wipe me off the face of the earth. I think these men were sent to test me and my abilities because they are trying out a super-soldier injection to sell to the military. I wasn't sent to research anything." he said, more to himself rather than Flare. Flare didn't understand a few of the terms he had used, but nodded anyway. She could ask later.

"So... why did you call for help?" Wind asked, giving him a puzzled look. Shadow chuckled slightly.

"I needed you to help me carry these idiots to the compound. I saw some communication equipment in their packs. I want them to contact their commander and tell him or her what I want. They are my hostages, barganing chips, so to speak, to help me get my old life back." Shadow stated, completely sure of himself. He patted one of the unconscious men on the head for emphasis. "Just promise me none of you will eat them." He eyed each raptor in the pack, making sure they understood how serious he was.

"I, as the Alpha female of the Leaf Pack, promise that no harm shall come to these men unless otherwise instructed by you, Alpha: Shadow." She said with resolve. Each raptor briefly nodded, agreeing with their Alpha.

"Good." He nodded, then stood and picked up two of the men with relative ease, carrying them over his shoulder. "Four of you can carry the rest of the men, while the rest of you can carry their equipment. Be careful with it, as some of it is very dangerous and/or fragile." He informed. Before the raptors had arrived, he had put on as much equipment as he could, dawning a tactical vest, the ACR, and three of the tactical packs. Four raptors grabbed the men by the colars and dragged them, while the three that were left divided the equipment amongst themselves to bear. Nothing was left behind to show any sign of their presence except for the two expended tranq darts, a broken machine gun, and one used flash grenade.

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Shadow had to admit that a raptor walking around with several big guns in it's claws and a mouth full of tactical packs and vests was a sight to behold. A rather amusing sight. Even as they moved with a certain grace about them which made them what they were, it was funny to see them get thrown off of their graceful movements because a pack would shift, or a gun would drop. Overall, Shadow enjoyed watching them.

They finally made it back to the compound with little trouble. The marines were tied to stationary objects in the clean room that Shadow had used as a place to sleep. They were spaced out according to his plan so that they couldn't do anything to free themselves. Then he had two raptors stationed inside with the men to make sure nothing would happen. If one of the men were to get free, Shadow gave them full authority to end their lives. Wind was one of the guards, because she was one that Shadow knew he could trust.

The marines' equipment was stored in the lobby on the reception desks. Shadow meticulously set out each computer and communications dish, making sure that every piece of equipment was properly placed and plugged in. He would have one of the marines check his work when they awoke.

"Flare, I want you to lead a hunting party for the pack. I know I promised that we would hunt when we settled in, but the situation has changed a bit. In a way, we have a nest to guard, so we'll have to split the group. I have to stay here to interrogate the humans when they wake up. I also need Wind to stay, because she's the only other raptor I know well enough to trust besides you. You have to lead the hunting group because the pack looks up to you as their official leader. Take all but three of the raptors. I need Wind and Sunbeam to guard the humans, while Whisper keeps watch for trouble outside the compound. The rest are yours to command." Shadow said with a smile.

"Yes, Alpha: Shadow. I'll make sure to bring back something worthy of the pack." She said with a determined expression.

"Just come back alive and well." Shadow said in a quieter voice, running his hand across her snout gently. Flare purred happily as she nuzzled his hand, taking in his scent. She nodded wordlessly to his request, then turned and ordered the raptors to follow.

Shadow sat down on the floor, looking back at the three raptors still with him and smiled. The day still had a little less than half left, but it was already one of the more tiring days of his life. He only hoped that his dealings with InGen went well later.

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Finally, we're getting somewhere...

Peace out

Silver Ryuu


	7. Death and Revenge

Chapter 7: Death and Revenge

Day 6: Friday (continued)

Shadow sat silently on the stairs that lead to the lobby, deep in thought. He wracked his brain for the best way to both set himself up as the one in charge, while at the same time getting those marines to do what he asked. He needed good intimidation tactics, as well as trust that he wouldn't hurt them unless they gave him reason to. He settled on a rather simple approach.

Moving to the back near the cages, he stripped of his clothes, then shifted to his raptor form. Once the painful change was complete, he sauntered back to the clean room, nodding to Sunbeam and Wind as he passed. Sighing, he scanned the room, looking at each face of the six men he had captured. They were, unfortunately, still unconscious. Walking around the large tub, he watched the expressionless faces of them, when one had a increase in respiration rate. Leaning in towards the man, Brennek was the name on his jacket, he growled slightly. The man's face didn't change, but he smelled different than he had before. Shadow's eyes widened when he realized he was smelling fear. He narrowed his eyes at the man who was trying to decieve him.

Putting his foot on his chest and pressing his claw against him, he roared angrily. Shadow was rewarded when the man screamed in horror, his eyes wide, staring down Shadow's throat. Shadow gave the man a hard look, growling angrily, stepping back to examine him. Brennek was too scared to do anything other than stare at the raptor before him. He shook slightly, trying to figure out why he was bound and this raptor wasn't eating him.

"Wha-What do you want?" He screamed in defiance, trying to make himself feel better. Shadow pulled his head back, giving him a curious look, playing the part of a wild raptor. Then he made the raptor equivalent of a chuckle and shook his head slightly. "What are you laughing at, Ugly?" Shadow roared at him, his anger rising again. Turning back to the doorway, he whispered a few words to Whipser and Sunbeam, then exited the room.

Brennek watched the two raptors in fear and curiosity. They seemed to be guarding him and his squad. While he was thinking these things, a teenage boy wearing a camoflage jacket and blue jean pants came through the door. He didn't even seem startled by the raptors, he even seemed to be friendly with them. That was when it snapped; this was the boy that volunteered to be an experiment for the supersoldier syrum.

"Ah, you're awake. I was beginning to worry if the tranq dart I put in your neck was too high a dose." Shadow said, now in his human form, speaking as though he had just found out about his being awake. Brennek didn't say anything, simply settling for glaring at him. "Alright, I need to talk to you... outside. Let's go." He said, moving to Brennek's bindings and untying him from the bar. Leaving his hands in their ties, he picked him up easily, no help from Brennek, and slung him over his shoulder.

"Put me down, you bastard!" Brennek yelled. Shadow proceeded outside the door, then dropped him on his rear near one of the support beams holding up the stairs. Brennek tried to get up and run, but Shadow simply grabbed his neck and slammed him against the beam and retied his hands to the beam.

"What do you want, you-"

"I want off of this island." Shadow interrupted. "You're going to help me. You and your team, anyway."

"Like hell we will, you freak!" He shouted.

"Wow! Real mature, man. You sound just like your friend. And I suppose you think I volunteered for this too, huh?" Shadow spat angrily. Brennek looked genuinely shocked for a second.

"What do you mean? Of course you did." He argued.

"No, I didn't. I thought they wanted me to work as reaserch assistant. Instead, they lied to me, knocked me out, and next thing I know, I'm on this island, stranded. Then, several days later, I wake up as a raptor. It wasn't painless either. I felt like my whole body was getting ripped apart and put back together again. Luckily, some of the locals saw fit to help me." he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder for emphasis. "Then, next day, these military guys show up, trying to kill me. I believe my response was well justified, soldier!"

"Wait! We weren't sent to kill you!" Brennek sputtered out.

"Really? Then what's with the massive guns? Most of those guns were oversized even for a T-rex. An MGL with anti-tank rounds? What the hell do you think I am?" Shadow yelled.

"A biogenetic super-soldier. You were injected with an experimental syrum designed to increase the effectivness of frontline soldiers. We were sent to test your limits. To see how far we could push you, then bring you back for a debriefing. We weren't told that you were taken against your will." Brennek said hurriedly. He was panting because he had said nearly the whole thing in one breath.

"Now it all makes sense." Shadow whispered.

"Well, you've obviously passed the physical part, so there's no reason for us to stay hostile, right?" Brenneck said hopefully.

"I'll untie you only if you help me make contact with your superiors. I want off of this island."

"Of course. We were to set up communications with them as soon as we found a base of operations. We were planning on using this building, actually." He said. Shadow untied him and helped him stand.

"Come with me then. I set up your communication equipment in the lobby. You can make sure it's set up correctly, then call your superiors." Shadow said, directing him up the stairs.

"But... A-alright." Brennek hesitated, then shrugged, moving up the stairs. Once up stairs, Brennek examined the equipment, made a few changes, then turned on the computer. Shadow watched as he openned a few programs, then clicked the send button. A few seconds later, a deep voice came over the speakers.

"Unit 67, come in. This is General Howard." The voice said.

"Yes sir. Corporal Jason Brennek reporting as ordered, sir." Jason said.

"Finally. Have you made contact with the boy yet?"

"Uh, yes sir. We have. He's right here."

"Hello General Howard." Shadow said sheepishly. He suddenly felt nervous about talking to someone so high up in the ranks.

"It's good to hear from you, son. I'm surprised. Tell me what happend."

"Well, General, they didn't hurt me, and I hope I didn't hurt any of them. I managed to subdue your team, but one of your men was attacked by one of the locals. I'm sorry to say that he didn't make it." Shadow said sadly.

"Oh, that's unfortunate. What was his name so I can contact his family?"

"Corporal Vincent Jones, sir." Jason spoke up. "We got the monster that did it though, sir."

"Good to hear, corporal. Joseph, I have a few questions for you."

"Of course, General."

"Were you sent there against your will, or was it as Dr. Hopkins said, you asked to be sent?"

"No, General. It was against my will. He didn't even tell me the truth about the job. As far as I knew, I was going to be an assistant researcher for InGen, not some experiment for the military." Shadow spat.

"I knew he was up to no good." General Howard whispered barely loud enough for the mic to pick him up. "Don't worry, Joseph. I'll handle him. Link up with the team from InGen and we'll get you outta there. Even if you didn't volunteer for this, I considered you one of my men the instant InGen captured you. My men leave no man behind."

"Thank you, General." Shadow said with a smile.

"It's not a problem. By the way, I read your file. It didn't mention anything about formal military training. That was one of the prerequisites for becomming the volunteer. The military specifiaclly asked for someone with military training, young, good survival skills, and knew the basics about dinosaurs. We had other side preferences, but military training is the only one you didn't have on record. Did you have any training at all in tactics and strategy, or any other military subject?" Howard asked with worry in his voice.

"N-no, sir. I haven't. They said I fit the profile perfectly. I guess it was another lie."

"Alright son, don't worry about... oh, Dr. Hopkins. Come in, come in. I've made contact with the team..."

"I know..." Another voice said. Suddenly a loud bang was heard over the comms. It sounded like a pistol. The comms suddenly went dead.

"General? General!" Jason yelled. "Hopkins killed him?" He asked in shock. Shadow only closed his eyes, reigning in his anger.

"I'll kill that man..." He said under his breath. "The General is dead. We've got to move and get off the island. Dr. Hopkins is in for a little visit..."

"My God... I can't believe he killed the General."

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Dr. Hopkins eyed the corpse of the general and the gory splatter on the wall with something akin to a cold, emotionless stare. He had no other choice. Ending the nuisance that he was happened to be necessary. It would atleast give him time to think of his next move. Stowing the pistol in his labcoat, he turned to the door and walked.

He simply walked out of the office and back to the main laboratory as if nothing happened. Grabbing the phone, he called the team he had sent to supervise his newest experiment.

"Hello?" a voice answered.

"This is Hopkins. The plan has changed..."

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"I understand... Yes, Doctor. It's done." Cynthia watched as the driver of the main research bus hung up the phone, then picked up the radio to the rest of the vehicles. "We're stopping for a break. Protective formation 'Moon' near those trees." He said, then received several confirmation replies. He parked the vehicle, then turned it off and stepped back into the living section of the bus.

"Who was that?" Cynthia asked innocently.

"It was Dr, Hopkins. Nothing major. Just an update. Don't worry about it." He said convincingly enough. She looked back at Tim, but he looked far from believing. The man stepped out of the vehicle and met up with the rest of the team outside.

"He's lying." Tim whispered.

"I know..." She replied. She watched as the researchers discussed something for a few minutes, then they each went back to their own vehicles. The group all came back to the driver with their rifles. Cynthia got a little nervous when they all looked back at the bus, then moved towards it.

"Here we go..." Tim said.

One of the men came into the vehicle and pointed his gun at Cynthia. "Come on, get out of the bus." The man said casually, almost as if he had done it all before, or he just didn't care. Cythia, Tim, and the rest of her friends slowly got up and moved out of the bus. Cynthia noticed that everyone, even the researchers had weapons. All of them, Hopkins' goons. They pointed their guns at the five of them. Several of them came to the five and began tying their hands behind their backs.

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Terror awoke with a start, sniffing the air. He growled angrily. 'Tresspassers. Alot of them too. Guess it's time to find and kill them.' "Everyone, wake up! We're going Tresspasser hunting." He said, standing. The rest of his pack were up almost instantly. The Grass Pack took off in near unison, except for three who were on nest duty: Beta: Razor, Epsilon: Pyro, and Omicron: Tsunami.

Terror's hatred of the 'tresspassers' was well founded in his mind. They had stolen eggs from his pack, then led them into an ambush from the Spined One. In his mind, he had the right to hunt every tresspasser in his territory.

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"We have to get to the research team. Chances are Hopkins told them about what's going on and they will try to leave without us. We have to get back with them." Jason said.

"Alright, let's wake the rest of your men." Shadow said quickly, running back down into the clean room, Jason in close pursuit.

Shadow and Jason entered the clean room and proceeded to wake the rest of the men. Whisper and Sunbeam looked on in curiosity.

"Come on, wake up!" Shadow said, slapping Peterson's face gently. The man slowly came around, obviously still dizzy from being knocked in the head.

"Ugh, what?" Peterson said, his head aching.

"Come on, Sergeant Major. General Howard is dead. Dr. Hopkins killed him and now your men are in danger of being left on the island." Shadow said. Immediately, Peterson was on his feet, scanning his surroundings, his mind going a mile a minute.

"Wait. What? How do you know that? Who are you?" He said quickly, then turned to the messenger. His eyes widened once he caught sight of the boy's... features "...What are you?" He said, staring at his slitted eyes.

"Joseph Gallant, Supersoldier. Nice to meet you, Sergeant Major." He said, shaking the shellshocked Sergeant Major's hand. "As for how I know: Corporal Brennek just got off the horn with the General and listend as Hopkins pulled a gun on him and killed him. We have presumed that Hopkins is now aware of your standing and will either try to leave you and your team here, or will direct his men to try to eliminate you." Shadow said simply, shrugging as if he had expected it.

Peterson's eyes once again widened, but this time in horrified realization. He glanced at Brennek, who simply nodded before attempting to awaken his teammates again. "Alright then..." he said, his voice heavy with resigned responsibility. "I guess... welcome to the team... Mr. Gallant." He said, his eyes far from congratulating. General Howard had been very clear about his orders on how to interact with Joseph: professional civility and comradery. He was to treat him as his own marine once he had passed the test. He obviously had, considering his... current standing. But now wasn't the time for civility, but for revenge. "Looks like we have a doctor to punish." He said more under his breath than to anyone in particular, even if Joseph had snorted with a look of amused cruelty. He could tell he didn't like the doctor either. He figured he would ask Joseph about the next best course of action, if only to test his metal. "Have any thoughts of what to do next?"

Shadow arched an eyebrow at the Sergeant Major. Peterson wanted to know what HE thought? He shrugged, accepting the opportunity to put in his two cents. "Well, I'm in personally good standing with a pack of raptors who just so happen to inhabit this area. I might be able to get them to help us find the Ingen research team before they can go far. I have the distinct idea that they won't try to leave immediately. If I was the leader of that particular brigade, I would rest for the night before moving back in the direction of the boat, assuming that's what you came on." He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Peterson nodded to the unspoken question. "Then you know where they should meet the boat?" Again, he nodded. "Perfect. You and your team will intercept them when they reach that point. I'll radio you when we've caught on to their trail, then we can corner them, your team on one side, my raptors on the other. I might even be able to... surprise them with some of the islands larger locals." he smiled with a sly grin.

Peterson raised his eyebrow at that, then chuckled slightly, dispite the chill that ran down his spine at the thought. He knew this was a war for survival. He knew that they were out-numbered almost five to one, out-gunned too, even if their guns were fired by inexperienced hands, at least he thought they were inexperienced. They still had more guns shooting at them, though. He wouldn't put it past Hopkins to hire mercenaries too.

Putting that aside, Peterson pulled a map from his pack and set it on the edge of a sink near him. "We are here, in the base of this valley." He said, pointing to an above view of their compound. "We were dropped off here on the north beach. The ship is to pick us up here on the south beach. The research team will head straight through the island's interior. The dam we are near is here. They will pass on the other side of it as the old town is southeast of it. Some old equipment and research was left behind on accident and they will try to pick it up. They have two goals that we were aware of. The first is to study any raptors they come across and hopefully find you. The second is to retrieve the documentation files of their research located in this abandonned town." He said, pointing to a mark on the southeastern part of the island. "That's all my team was able to discern." He finished with a sigh.

Shadow looked at the map closely. The dam was the edge of the Leaf Pack's territory facing east and west. The Grass Pack was beyond that. "Be careful once you cross that dam." Shadow said simply.

"Why?" Peterson asked as the rest of his team gathered around them.

"Another raptor pack lives beyond that dam. They won't hesitate to kill you like my pack will. If they smell you, you can pretty much be sure they will come for you."

"Thanks for the warning. Corporal Carson, take the MGL and P90 and give your assault rifle and sidearm to Sergent Daren. We don't need so many assault rifles. We need atleast one man with the grenade launcher." Peterson ordered.

"Sir." Carson said simply and handed his guns to the Sergent, both slipping the guns into the holsters on their vests and backpacks. Dawning Vincent's old equipment, Shadow handed the 40mm Sabot MGL rounds and P90 clips to Carson and grabbed his M 21, Uzi, and D'eagle clips and put them in the ammo pouches on the vest, then put the D'eagle into the holster on the front left pistol holster. Sliding the strap of the sniper rifle over his head, he put it behind him. Openning the top of the pack, he dumped the extra 50 calibur pistol rounds into it. He slipped the shotgun into the rifle holster on the right side of the pack and slipped the shells into the ammo pouches on the tac-belt, then clipped the Uzi onto the front of his vest. Slipping the throwing knife he had kept for himself into the shoulder holster, he turned back to the squad of soldiers who were waiting for him, each done putting on their equipment.

"You know what the difference is between you and me?" He paused, then smiled. "I make this look gooood." he said with a sly smile. The men gave him a look, then each began to chuckle slightly.

"Alright, men, head upstairs and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we've got traitors to hunt down." Peterson ordered. The squad quickly moved out of the clean room and ran upstairs. Shadow walked up to Whisper and Sunbean, who had watched the whole exchange with interest.

"Well, Alpha? What is the situation?" Whisper asked.

"I'll tell you when Flare gets back. I don't feel like telling the same story twice." Suddenly he heard a scream from up stairs. "Oh crap!" Shadow cursed, then shot out of the room and up the stairs. The sight that greeted him was an angry Flare ontop of Peterson, growling, with the rest of the soldiers pointing their guns at Flare. The rest of the pack looked ready to pounce on the rest of the men. "Flare, wait!" Shadow shouted, appearing between the men and Flare, effectivly blocking most of the mens' aim.

Immediately Flare jumped off of Peterson, who looked as though he had just made a mess in his pants. "Shadow, I appologize. I thought they had tried to escape." Flare nickered uncertainly.

"No, don't worry. They've agreed to help me. The one who's responsible for changing me has betrayed them too." Shadow said quickly, in a reassuring voice. He then noticed the soldiers looking at him like he was crazy. He then sweatdropped when he realized he was speaking in raptor and they couldn't understand him.

"Whoah, that's pretty awesome. I didn't know people could make sounds like that." Brennek said with a chuckle.

"Don't worry... they can't. It's because of the modifications I've undergone that I can in the first place." He said with a grin. Speaking in raptor, he called for the pack to gather around. "Alright, these men have been betrayed by the man who changed me. His name is James Hopkins. Their... pack leader... was killed by that man. That leaves Peterson in charge of his pack." Shadow said, pointing at Peterson. "If I ask you to help them and stay with them, I want you to do just that. They may try to tell you something, so try your best to understand what they try to tell you. Don't attack them no matter what happens, unless of course they attack you or a packmate. Hopkins has a team here and they will try to leave Peterson's pack behind. We can't let them do that. So tomorrow, here's what we'll do..." Shadow then went on to explain his plan.

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Cynthia stared at the mercs with a wary glint in her eye. They all seemed so used to threatening people with guns and having their way. Even the people on the research team that she recognized from InGen seemed comfortable with the situation. Even some of her former subordinates on the Velociraptor Research Team were okay with putting a gun to her head and telling her to shut up.

She overheard some of the men talking about their pay from Hopkins and what they would do with all of that cash when they got back. The one who seemed to be in charge of the mercs just so happened to be their former driver of the main research bus. He was the one Hopkins had contacted about the 'change of plans' as he had put it. She had seen him on the phone, presumably with Hopkins, several times since they had been detained. She worried about what Hopkins would do to her and her friends, but ended up being more worried about Joseph in the end.

She whinced as the plastic of the ties on her hands dug into her already bleeding wrists. They hadn't cared if her hands were bound too tight. They only seemed to care about the cash they hoped they would be receiving.

Suddenly, a scream came from the forest. All of the mercs turned in the direction of the scream and pointed their guns. "Jackson?" The head merc shouted, then motioned for two of his men to investigate. His gaze turned to Cynthia, his expression hard. "It seems some of your 'monsters' have found us out. Hopkins told me what I should do if we were to be attacked. I believe his exact instructions were to kill you and your people and leave your corpses for the dinosaurs while my men and I escaped. I tend to agree with his judgment." He said with a dark smile. "Everyone, get the vehicles together. We're moving out. Jones, take care of this... bagage." He said motioning to her and her five friends who were lined up, Tim and Cynthia at the far right.

Cynthia's eyes widened in horror as Jones simply nodded then stood before her and her friends with an apathetic look. He pulled his .44 Magnum Revolver out slowly and pointed it at Mike. Mike closed his eyes, waiting for the end. Cynthia looked away, unable to bare seeing her friend get killed. A loud bang sounded, and Cynthia began to cry quietly. Jones put the gun to Joshua's head and pulled the trigger, taking another life out of the world. Both Cynthia and Bethany cried louder as the gun was pointed at Bethany's head. She shivered as the still warm barrel touched her forehead. She felt cold as her life flashed before her eyes, then it was over with a bang.

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Terror watched in discust as a tresspasser began killing it's own kind for no reason. His pack had already struck down one of them with little difficulty, but he had stopped once he came upon this scene. What made it worse was that the tresspassers it was killing were bound and unable to move, completely helpless. This particular tresspasser had no honor, and didn't even deserve to die quickly. After the third helpless tresspasser was killed, Terror had had enough. He pounced the tresspasser and relished in the horrified scream that was emitted from his prey. He dug his foot claws into the tresspasser's legs, rendering them useless, while his foreclaws stabbed into it's arms, pinning it. Terror glanced back at the two remaining tresspassers with something akin to sympathy, then looked back at his pack just behind them.

"Stay and watch this scum die. Leave those tresspassers to the mercy of the jungle. I will have no part in their fate. Untie them and let them go free. Let the jungle be their judge." He roared. Gamma: Shade and his mate, Delta: Flower brought their clawed feet down on the ties holding Cynthia and Tim, effectivly freeing them. They roared threateningly at the two and were rewarded when they took off into the woods at a surprisingly fast pace. Terror almost chuckled at that. Even if it was fast for a tresspasser, he would have no trouble running them down and killing them.

Turning his attention to the tresspasser he had pinned, he smirked cruelly as he began to slowly dissect it piece by piece, well aware of the other tresspassers driving away in their metal abominations. They would meet their end soon enough, he would make sure of it.

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Cynthia ran as fast as she could through the woods for a long while, desperate to get away. Three of her friends had just been murdered, then suddenly raptors came out of nowhere and killed the murderer. Not only that, but the same raptors had freed them and basically told her that if they ever saw her again, she would die. She had worked with raptors long enough to identify certain vocalizations, and that one was pretty much 'Go away before I kill you.' She wasn't about to stick around and find out either.

She knew that just randomly running through the jungle on Isla Sorna wasn't the smartest thing she could be doing, but she was too scared to stay anywhere near those raptors. All she knew was that she had to get away.

A familiar voice called out to her, and suddenly she realized that she had left Tim in the dust when she had ran. She stopped and looked back with a worried expression. Tim soon came into view, panting slightly from trying to keep up. "Cynthia -gasp- what are you thinking? -pant- You can't just go running off like that."

"I know, I'm sorry. I just... lost it back there. Beth, Mike, and Josh just... gone." She didn't notice until just now that she had been crying the whole time until her voice broke when she had spoken their names.

Tim sighed, still trying to put it out of his mind. Right now, they had to survive. Worrying about the past solved nothing. "Cynthia, we will have plenty of time to mourn our loss when we get off of this island safely. Right now, we have to focus on living. We have to find Joseph before the other team does. If he's still alive, we'll have a better chance at staying alive, so we have to keep moving. I don't know what we're supposed to do to find him, but we have to try, alright?" He said gently. Cynthia was facing away from him, thinking over what her friend had said. He was right. Mourn later, she had more pressing matters to attend to. She steeled her resolve with a deep breath, then faced Tim with a nod.

"Alright." She said simply, no longer crying, but the evidence still there.

"Okay." Tim nodded to her. He glanced up at the sky and scowled at the the darkness beginning to creep into it. "We'll have to find a safe place to stay for the night though. It would be... unwise to travel at night." he said simply. Cynthia nodded in agreement.

"This tree would be just fine." She said, gesturing to the tree they were standing under. Infact, it was almost perfect. Little did they know that it was the same tree Joseph had stayed in when he first encountered the Spinosaurus.

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Shadow slept rather well in his metal tub makeshift bed. He had a pack of raptors sleeping around his tub, ready to do anything he said, and a team of elite Marines Special Forces sleeping upstairs willing to fight by his side and protect him. Ever so often, in his sleep, he would somehow be aware of one of the marines taking the nightwatch walk by the door of the clean room. Even when he was sleeping, he was surprised by his level of awarness. It was an odd, but good feeling. Feeling Flare's body shift under his head slightly, her breathing lulling him even deeper into dreamland, he felt for the first time during his stay on Isla Sorna that he was safe.

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Hey, Silver Ryuu here. One thing I'd like to clear up is the subject of one of the weapons used by the marines. The MGL with anti-tank rounds was what Shadow called the 40mm high-heat Saber rounds, the same ones used at the end of Transformers 1. I think they are called Saber rounds, but it's also possible I misheard them and it's actually Sabot rounds. I watched it several times trying to figure out what exactly they said, but Saber is what I heard. If anyone knows what they were actually saying, I would be thankful for your imput.

(Update) A good friend of mine (The JF) looked up the script of Transformers and found that they were actually saying "Sabot" rounds.

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu


	8. Reunion and Confrontation

Chapter 8: Reunion and Confrontation

Day 7: Saturday

"Cynthia, wake up. We have to get moving." Tim said, shaking Cynthia's shoulder. Cynthia cracked her eyes open and peeked at her surroundings, then closed them again as if to go back to sleep. Suddenly she shot up, having realized what she had seen: the jungles of Isla Sorna. Yesterday's events came crashing back down on her and she almost lost it again before Tim's voice snapped her out of it. "Let's get going. We have to get to that town the research team is headed to before they do. If they get those documents, they'll be able to leave sooner. We have to delay them as long as we can." Tim said, climbing down the side of the tree.

"Alright." Cynthia said simply, starting her climb down. "But what good are two former scientists of InGen at something like that?" She asked incredulously after considering their situation.

"We aren't. We simply see what we can do. That's all we can do. Joseph need's our help, so whatever little we can do, we should do, no matter what." Cynthia took in his words like a sponge. She needed to be encouraged. She needed to be reminded why she was here and who she was here for. "Plus, I was able to snag a gun before we ran off." He said with a smile, producing the pistol that had killed her friends. Cynthia nodded soberly. It only had three rounds left, but it was better than nothing.

"Let's get going." Cynthia said, then looked up at the sky, determining where south was. Once she had her heading, she began walking, Tim in close pursuit.

"Ah, Mr. Lendmann, I'm glad you could make it." Hopkins said, shaking a tall man's hand as he walked into the main lobby of InGen headquarters.

"Dr. Hopkins." Lendmann said with a short nod.

"I trust you recieved your payment then?" Hopkins asked.

"I did. The check cleared, otherwise I wouldn't be here. With what this job intails, I wouldn't do it until I was paid. All my other jobs pale in comparison."

"You have no idea how important this is to InGen. I know that ordinarily your jobs are more... violent, but this one, you only need to help me sell this syrum to the military. They wanted someone with military training, and you were the best mercenary I could hire. You just need to showcase the syrum's abilities, then afterwards, we'll give you the reversal syrum. Simple as that." Hopkins said with a smile.

"Sounds easy enough. When do I start?"

"Right away."

Razor looked up from the nest he was currently guarding to see Terror and the rest of the pack enter the clearing.

"Alpha: Terror." Razor faced Terror and nodded in respect.

"Beta: Razor, you've done well, I see. No Trespassers came stamping into our nests and stealing our eggs. Good, you've re-earned your trust. Just make sure you never fail again."

"Yes, Alpha."

"Upsilon: Striker, I need to speak with you." Terror spoke to a rather large Utah Raptor that was blood red with black tiger stripes down his back. He was nearly twice Terror's size and more than twice his age, being 9 years old. Razor went back to the rest of the pack to leave Terror to speak with his advisor.

"Yes, Alpha: Terror?" Striker asked in a deep voice as he approached his alpha.

"Those metal monsters the trespassers used to escape us, have you ever seen them before? I've seen similar objects, but they never moved around." Terror seemed genuinely confused.

"Yes, I've seen them before." Striker informed. "About 5 years ago, a group of trespassers came here and began trying to capture some of the lower beings. Another group ended up freeing them, but they took the Kings' youngling and were attacked. I happened to be on patrol that day and saw the kings push a similar beast over the cliffs. The larger pack of trespassers ended up saving them and moving on into our territory at the time. The grasslands near the abandonned constructs that we live near now, that is where we attacked and killed a majority of them. Eventually, some of them escaped in a flying version of those beasts. I never learned what the beasts were called, though. The trespassers are in league with the beasts, but that's all I know."

"Are you aware of a way to beat them? We may have to fight them again soon. They are headed to the abandonned constructs for some unknown reason." Terror was truely stumped as to how to kill a 'beast.'

"The only way I know of is to get the trespasser out of the beast. Only then will the beast stop moving. They only seem to move when a trespasser is inside." Striker said.

"Thank you, that's all." Terror said, dismissing the elder raptor. He turned to the only other raptor with feathers on his head other than Razor. "Kappa: Typhoon, I need to speak with you." The raptor in question was navy blue with a red stripe down his back. Typhoon approached his alpha with a questioning look.

"Yes, Alpha: Terror?"

"I have a... special hunt for you in mind." Terror said in a low voice, motioning for him to follow. The two raptors moved off into the edge of the woods, just out of earshot of the rest of the pack. "I know that you aren't very fond of the idea of seeing your old pack again, but I want you to spy on the Leaf Pack for me. I need to know what they are doing." Terror explained.

"Alpha, I'm not too sure about-"

"You'll do it or I kill your son, Kappa. He's a good second in command, I'd hate to do that when you could use your excellent tracking skills and keep him safe." Terror threatened.

"Why must you always bring Razor into this?" Typhoon asked with a sigh.

"Because it's the only way I can make sure you'll do what I say, traitor of the Leaf. You may be a good tracker, but you're also a coward for abandonning your pack to stay alive."

"With all due respect, Alpha, I did it to save my son! I knew your father would have killed him in his egg if I hadn't surrendered to him. It was the only option I had. When your father killed Alpha: Sol, I knew the Leaf Pack had no chance. My mate was already dead by the time I realized there was even an attack in the first place. I only had my son to think about." Typhoon countered.

"You could have redeemed yourself when we killed off their males two weeks ago."

"That wasn't an option. Razor doesn't know about his past. He doesn't even know I'm his father. He would have thought I was a traitor to your pack, then I would have no chance to tell him otherwise. Besides, like you said, the Leaf Pack is doomed. That attack two years ago had already crippled the Leaf anyway. This most recent attack only made their end set in stone. All they have are females now. They can't continue their lineage. The only thing that hurt the Grass was the attack from the Spined One that killed your Father and Mother. I say they deserved it-" Suddenly Typhoon was on the ground with Terror's killing claw pressing on his neck.

"Watch what you say, traitor. I have no qualms about killing you now. I could always send someone else. Eta: Claw for example. He's about as good at tracking as you. When he came down from the Rock Pack in the mountains, he proved how good he was." Terror said, glancing back into the nesting area at the golden yellow raptor with black tiger stripes down his back. He was a bit smaller than the others, but quite abit more agile, as he grew up in the mountains. "Never talk about my parents again, or I'll have your head." Terror growled.

"Alright, fine. I'll go. I'll report periodically to update you on their location and activity." Typhoon said in a placating manner.

"Good. You'll leave now." Terror said, letting the older raptor up. Typhoon nodded, then took off into the thick underbrush.

Terror sighed. Although he always put up a tough front to his pack, especially to the non-native Grass members, all the stress involved surely took it's toll. He would give his life for his pack without a second thought, but trying to keep them in line was even harder when they weren't sure what to expect from him. He never had any real problems with the full-blooded Grass members, but the others had different backgrounds and cultures. The way that they were used to working didn't fit well with the Grass' 'tough-love' style of leadership. The Leaf had moral, family-oriented leaders, and the Rock pack had their near Anarchy, 'only the strongest survive' philosophy. The Grass was near militaristic family leadership. The Alpha loved his pack, but kept his distance to avoid being too familiar with his underlings. The addition of non-native members merely complicated the whole structure.

Terror pushed the subject from his mind and laid down in his nest, eager to let sleep take him. He was rather exhausted from running around all day and night and tracking trespassers. Taking one last look around, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Typhoon soon came to the great wall of the lake and approached it cautiously. He hated to spy on his own people, but he had to do it to save his son. Climbing the broken steps to the right of the wall carefully, he ascended to the top with little trouble. The run to the wall was a rather long one from their nesting grounds, but he was fast and it wasn't much of a problem. He finally reached the top, giving him a clear view of the valley below, with the lake just below him. It had been a while since he was last in this territory. He felt a slight wave of nostalgia as he gazed over Leaf Territory. However, along with that nostalgia was a sense of dread. He not only feared for his old pack, but he hated to see the state his old pack was in.

Typhoon steeled his resolve as he began what he believed would be the hardest part of his trip.

Shadow ran silently through the jungle in his raptor form, his pack following closely behind. Though a bit cumbersome with only three fingers, he gripped his shotgun tightly, ready to kill anything in his path. His tactical vest and ruck-sack were on his person like a human would wear it, but he had to leave the front of the vest open, as his torso was larger when he was in raptor form. His clothes were in his ruck-sack so he could put them on quickly if necessary. He had everything with him, so he was set for battle.

The reason he was in raptor form was because he would need to track the scent of the InGen Research Team, as well as protect against any large predators interested in crashing his little raptor caravan.

The marines headed southeast to the only airstrip on the island, as it was on the way to the abandonned town the research team was headed to, instead of crossing the dam like Peterson had originally planned. Shadow reasoned that they should stay in Leaf Pack Territory as long as possible before crossing into Grass Pack Territory.

Shadow's pack, however, aimed to cross the dam, as the research team was on that side. He would need to be on their trail to track them properly.

Shadow had been running for only several minutes before he smelled something foreign. Stopping quickly to consentrate on it, his pack slowed to a stop just behind him. He sniffed the ground carfully, taking in any scents that were present.

"What is it, Shadow?" Flare asked in a whisper.

"I smell humans. Two... one male, one female. I don't recognize the male, but the female seems familiar. Follow me and stay quiet. Don't attack unless I say." He said quietly. He lowered his posture to reduce his visibility, his shotgun trained ahead of him. The wind was blowing gently in from behind them, meaning they were upwind.

Flare's voice seemed worried. "Shadow, we're upwind. Surely they smell us." Shadow simply shook his head.

"No, humans' sense of smell isn't very good. Don't worry. So long as they don't hear us or see us, they won't know we're here." He whispered back. Flare seemed confused by that. Shadow's sense of smell wasn't as good as her's in his human form, but he could still smell pretty well. She pushed the question from her mind and trusted him, instead opting to stay quiet and watch.

Shadow suddenly stopped, recognizing the area as where he first encountered the Spinosaur. He looked up at the tree he had stayed in, seeing evidence of recent activity. The smell was strong, maybe just a few minutes old at the most. "We're close." He growled quietly to his pack. He then motioned for them to stay put. Putting his equipment down next to the tree so he looked like a natural raptor, he slowly crept forward toward a group of bushes.

Soon, once under the cover of the bushes, he spied the two humans walking through the jungle somewhat awkwardly, occasionally tripping on sticks and underbrush. It was then that he recognized the woman. It was Cynthia from the InGen Headquarters.

"Cynthia?" He asked himself quietly, coming out as a surprised knicker. He narrowed his eyes slightly. He still didn't know if she was in on the plot against him or not. He simply thought it a possiblity that she didn't know. Shrinking back into the cover of the bushes, he decided to test her loyalty.

Cynthia and Tim walked through the jungle at a steady pace, trying to conserve energy. They had a long way to go, and they needed the extra energy to escape any dinosaurs they might come across.

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like soft thuding of feet through topsoil, circling their position, as well as branches rustling against whatever was brushing past them. Whatever it was, it was moving very quickly. It started out from somewhere behind them, then circled to their right, then eventually stopped in the bushes infront of them. Cynthia began taking steps back from the bush, fear driving her to run away from whatever was there, but also preventing her from moving much at all. Tim pulled the gun from his belt slowly, pointing it at the bush. Suddenly, a black raptor with silver tiger stripes down it's back burst from the bush, hissing angrily as it postured, ready to pounce. Just as soon as that happend, six white raptors with various markings emerged from all around them, effectively trapping them.

Tim simply lowered the gun helplessly after seeing seven raptors, all snarling and hissing at him and Cynthia. His grip on the gun slackend and the gun fell from his hand with a dull thud. His heart was loud in his ears, and he felt a cold chill shoot down his spine.

Cynthia shivered in fear, tears falling down her face. She felt numb, her mind almost broken from all she had been through so far. Now she was going to die, and she wouldn't be able to help Joseph. He would never know she had even been here on the island to save him. She fell to her knees, her eyes unseeing as she stared straight ahead into the cold, ice-blue eyes of the one she absolutely knew was going to kill her. She couldn't even manage a whimper as she resigned herself to her fate. She only took comfort in knowing that she knew Christ as her Savior and that she would be with Him in paradise soon.

Tim followed Cynthia's example and knelt down next to her, trying to look as harmless as possible. He knew that kneeling to an angry raptor was the best thing to do, but he wasn't sure if that would save them. The black raptor apeared to be the Alpha male. If he was the one currently incharge, this wasn't a matter of eggs or anything having to do with their young. The Alpha female would be the one in charge if that was the case. This was a matter of territory or some other possible conflict. He knew that if he seemed like less of a threat to his territory, he would be more likely to survive. Cynthia was the raptor expert, but he knew his fair share from simply talking to her about the subject. He glanced at Cynthia and frowned, as she seemed completely catatonic and in shock. She wasn't thinking about survival anymore, she was making her peace with death.

"Cynthia, snap out of it. What do they want? Tell me why they haven't killed us yet." He whispered frantically, trying to bring her out of her thoughts. He saw her untense alittle, meaning she was listening again.

"They aren't here for anything we've done. They don't think we stole their eggs, because the female hasn't approached us..." She whispered, tears still falling down her face.

"Okay, then what is their purpose?" Tim asked, watching the black raptor carfully.

"The only thing that comes to mind is inter-raptor relations. They are treating us like foreign raptors rather than prey." She said, almost like she was on autopilot.

"They want to know why we are here in their territory?" he asked. Cynthia simply nodded.

"That would be my best guess."

"Okay then..." Suddenly the black raptor slowly began to approach them, a low growl deep in his throat resounding as he walked. "What's he doing?" Tim asked uncertainly. Cynthia seemed to come back to the real world again as she saw the raptor's posture.

"He's not challenging us. He seems like he knows something. It's all over his body posture. He seems to be inspecting us and our intentions." She said, seeming a little more present in the situation, the shock starting to fade as the raptor approached. She was faced with a new scenario of raptor behavior, and the scientist in her began to take over.

"Do you think he saw the research team? Is that what he knows?" Tim asked.

"I'm not sure. It's hard to say, but he definitly knows something." She said as the raptor stopped less than a foot from her, looking her right in the eyes. He made a slight knickering noise, which sounded almost friendly to Tim, but Cynthia's eyes widend. She knew what that vocalization meant. "He just made the vocalization for recognition. They only use it when they see another of the pack that they haven't seen in a while. I guess the best translation would be 'Hello.' I think he knows me somehow."

"I don't recognize him from the group that freed us though. Their alpha was grey and red. He couldn't possibly know us." Tim said incredulously.

"He didn't say it to both of us, he only acknowleged me. He knows me, not you. He would have looked at both of us if he knew both of us." She said, gazing into the slitted eyes of the raptor. It was then that it all came back to her. Only one person had that shade of blue for their eye color. "Joseph?" She asked in a hopeful whisper. The raptor seemed to loosen his posture and back up slightly. He nodded in a very human manner, answering her question. "Joseph! It IS you!" She shouted excitedly, standing up. He knickered with what appeared to be the raptor equivalent of a smile, then called to the other raptors. Instantly, they all settled into the clearing, none with a threatening posture. Tim slowly stood, still slightly shocked by the turn of events.

"So you're Joseph Gallant?" Tim asked. The raptor simply nodded again, extending his clawed hand as if to shake his hand. Tim took it like he would any person and shook it firmly, feeling a little weird about shaking a raptor's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you." He said simply.

Joseph made the 'wait a moment' gesture, then sauntered off into the woods, leaving the two in the company of six female raptors. Tim looked around nervously while Cynthia eagerly examined them. One raptor with two parrallel black stripes down her back with sky blue tiger stripes crossing them approached Cynthia.

Flare carefully sniffed Cynthia, committing her scent to memory. Cynthia, just as carefully, extended her hand and began to pet the raptor on her snout, her adrenaline pumping through her veins as she did what she thought she could never do.

Flare closed her eyes and allowed the human to pet her, enjoying the feeling. Shadow had done this once before, and she enjoyed it then too. Flare was really starting to like some humans, but others, she knew were evil. But now, she couldn't care less as she purred happily, enjoying the feeling. She briefly noted Wind's snort of amusement, but opted to ignore it.

Soon, Joseph came back into the clearing in human form, wearing all of his gear. "Hello again, Cynthia. It's been a while." he waved sheepishly.

Cynthia couldn't help herself as she rushed to him and glomped him. She was glad to have finally found him after so long. She hugged him hard, glad he was alive and well. She was so overwhelmed by the situation that she failed to even notice his new features. She laughed in relief as tears of joy replaced the tears of fear she had been shedding not long before.

Joseph returned the hug stiffly. He hadn't been expecting her to be so happy to see him. He was either expecting relief if she hadn't been in on the plot against him, or grim recognition if she had. This was far from his expected reactions, but another ally in this twisted war was always welcome.

"Alpha: Shadow!" Sunbeam suddenly called in a worried voice. She had been told by Shadow to scout the area while the rest of the pack assisted him in trapping the humans.

Joseph immediatly let go of Cynthia and faced the raptor. "What's wrong, Sunbeam?" He asked, forgetting to put her rank before her name.

"A foreign raptor is headed our way. He's comming from the east near the Great Stone Wall of the Lake." She said urgently.

"What's she saying?" Cynthia asked, sensing the worry in the new raptor's vocalizations.

"Another raptor is comming. He's not from our pack." He said, trying to think of a plan. "Beta: Wind, take the humans and the rest of the pack with you and continue to track the Research Team. Flare and I will meet this new threat." He said quickly. "Cynthia, go with the pack. We're tracking the InGen Research Team that was sent to find me. Wind is my second in command, she'll take care of you." He said, pointing to Wind. Cynthia started to say something, but decided against it. Instead, she simply nodded and walked to Wind. "Tim, take this." Joseph said, handing him his shotgun. "We'll catch up once we're finished."

"Aye." Tim said. He gained a sneaky grin when he noticed Joseph glance at Cynthia. "I'll keep her safe for you, you can count on it." Tim said with a smile, shouldering the gun. Joseph gave him a questioning glance, but wrote it off as him referring to the gun. Tim, however, sensing Joseph's misunderstanding, smiled even wider.

"Flare, you're with me." Shadow said, jumping onto a nearby branch and launching himself out of sight. Flare took off after him soon after.

Tim stared off into the trees with an impressed expression. "Boy, I wish I could do that..." He said to no one in particular. Cynthia simply giggled as she continued to follow Wind. "His eyes don't look half bad either." He added as an afterthought.

"What do you mean?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, you saw them. They were slitted like a raptor's eyes." He said. Cynthia's eyes widened.

"You mean the syrum isn't perfect? He still had some evidence left after transforming?"

"Aye, unfortunately. Nothing a pair of sunglasses wouldn't help though." Tim said, shrugging it off.

"I didn't see that." Cynthia trailed off, lost in thought. Suddenly, Wind stopped infront of her, facing her. Wind made a sound that she hadn't heard before, then Wind laid down on the ground. Wind looked at her expectantly. "What?" Cynthia asked, dumbfounded.

"Your too slow, human. Get on." Wind commanded again. The human still looked confused. Wind huffed, then stood. She went behind Cynthia before she could react, then ran between her legs, causing Cynthia to yelp as the raptor took off. Cynthia grabbed onto whatever she could, which happend to be Wind's neck, so she wouldn't fall off, then she realized what was happening.

"Oh, I see." Cynthia said, finally getting it. She looked back to see Tim riding a raptor with grey spots and stripes adorning her white scales.

"Gamma: Storm, just let me know if you'd like to slow down. He doesn't look like much, but if he gets too heavy, let me know." Wind called back to the raptor carrying Tim.

"Alright Beta: Wind. I will." Storm called. "He's actually very light." She added.

"Okay then, see if you can keep up." Wind challenged with a smile, then she took off like her namesake. The rest of the pack followed as best as they could, dispite Wind carrying a human.

Shadow stopped in the cover of a bush and shifted to his raptor form so he could better track the intruder. He left his tac-vast on, but the rest of his clothes went into his pack. Grabbing his D'eagle in his right hand, he nodded to Flare, who was keeping an eye out while he changed. The instant he got his barings, he smelled the intruder.

"He's close. Near the lake through those bushes. Go around and cut him off from escaping via the dam. I'll confront him directly." Shadow whispered, crouching low.

"Alright, Shadow." Flare said, before running off in the direction of the dam.

Shadow crept forward into the bushes that separated him from his target, his bloodlust creeping up into his mind. 'That's strange. I've never felt like this before. I really want to KILL that raptor for some reason.' He thought to himself incredulously. Shaking himself of the feeling, he consetrated on his target. Slowly peeking his head out of the bushes, he saw the raptor at the edge of the lake, lapping up the water. 'Alright, here goes nothing...' he thought, watching the raptor's movements closely. Right as the raptor lowered his head for another drink, Shadow sprung into action, launching himself out of his cover and directly at the surprised intruder.

Before Typhoon even had a chance to realize what was happening, he was in a very similar situation to what he had been through a few hours earlier, under the killing claw of an angry raptor. This raptor, however, was quite abit different, as he was pitch black with silver stripes, as opposed to Terror's grey, red, and black combination. Another thing was off. The raptor was wearing a strange object of some sort, similar to those that trespassers wore, over his torso. He opted to not ask any questions, as his position didn't allow for it.

"Be still, intruder, or you'll never move again." The raptor growled threateningly, pressing his claw against his neck for good measure.

"Alright, alright. I won't move. What do you want from me?" Typhoon asked, squirming unintensionally due to the uncomfortable position.

"Just the answers to a few questions. Can you do that for me?" He asked. Typhoon simply nodded. "Good. What pack are you from?"

"Grass."

"Why are you in the Leaf Pack's territory?"

"Scouting mission."

"That's punishable by death in my book. Give me a reason I shouldn't kill you now."

"Ah, I see that the Leaf has gained a new alpha, as well as a new form of rule. You're quite abit more strick than the Leaf's former alpha. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Typhoon asked boldly. Shadow paused for a moment, slightly taken aback by the raptor's confidence.

"You lay at the mercy of Shadow of the Leaf. And your name would be?" Shadow asked in an authoritative mannor.

"I am Typhoon, Kappa of the Grass..." Typhoon paused, then smiled as he continued. "...formerly Gamma of the Leaf."

Dun Dun DUUNNN! What will Shadow do with this new raptor? How will he be of use to help Shadow finish his vendeta against the evil Dr. Hopkins? Will Cynthia and Tim make it off the island alive? Who is Mr. Lendmann? What will Hopkins do to avoid life in prison or worse? Will the Marines survive the trek across the island to get to the evac point before the research team get's there?

All of these questions and more will be answered... eventually. LOL.

I don't own Jurassic Park obviously. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this, I'd be making it into an actual movie for all to enjoy or hate. I enjoy reviews, flames, and occasional nonsense, but they aren't necessary, as I am doing this for my own entertainment.

I'd like to thank my good friend, The JF, for helping me with some ideas and occasionally proof-reading when he has the chance. XP

I thank everyone who takes the time to read this A/N, as well as bothering to read the fruits of my past-time. LOL.

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu

P.S. If you're offended by the mention of Christ and the implications of Christianity present in the story, too bad. Get over it. I'm proud to declare that I am a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN, and I don't care if I offend anyone. If I am ashamed of my God here on earth and am not proud to declare Him my King, then he will not declare me His son in Heaven and will be ashamed of me. I don't really care what men here on earth think of me, as they have no say as to where I go in the afterlife.

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty! The whole universe is filled with His glory! Amen!


	9. Snake in the Grass

Chapter 9: Snake in the Grass

Day 7: Saturday (Continued)

"Of the Leaf?" Shadow repeated, shocked by this new turn of events. "You expect me to believe that? And even if you were, that means you're a traitor, and I should kill you now!"

"Wait, wait! If you kill me, you won't be able to get inside information on the Grass Pack and what they plan to do." Typhoon pleaded.

"I don't care about the Grass Pack or whatever the hell they do! All I want is to get me and my friends off this damn island!" Shadow exploded, nearly ending Typhoon's life in anger. Typhoon coughed as the pressure on his neck eased.

"What do you mean? What do you mean by 'get off this island.' Isn't this all there is?" Typhoon asked in a raspy voice. Shadow realized his slip up and suddenly looked uncertain. Should he tell this raptor about the outside world?

"That's beside the point!" Shadow yelled, pointing his D'eagle at the raptor's head. "Why should I let you live when you've betrayed the pack that is helping me?" Shadow restated, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Look, it was a situation that's hard to explain. Betraying the pack was the only way to save my son, okay? It's not like I wanted to betray my pack." Typhoon explained.

"Go on." Shadow urged, letting up the pressure on his neck.

"Terror's father, the alpha of the Grass Pack two years ago, attacked the Leaf Pack. By the time I had even realized there was an attack, my mate was dead and most of our eggs had been crushed. There was only one egg left then. Razor, my son, who is now Beta of the Grass pack, has no idea he is a native Leaf member. If I were to leave the Grass and try to be with my rightful pack, he would think I was a traitor to the Grass. He doesn't even know I'm his father." Typhoon said the last part as though he had just been defeated at life, no will to live at all.

Shadow considered Typhoon's difficult position, but something didn't add up completely. "So, why are you here in Leaf Territory in the first place, Typhoon?"

"Terror sent me to spy on your pack. He threatened to end my son's life if I didn't." Typhoon stated dejectedly. Shadow finally had all the pieces of the puzzle. Now all he needed to do was take advantage of the situation and make it work for him.

"If I help you convince your son about his heritage, will you help me cross Grass Pack territory unhindered?" Shadow asked. "I could also make you Alpha of the Leaf once I leave this island." Shadow added, letting the raptor up. Typhoon grunted as he got upright.

"No, make my son the Alpha. He deserves it more." Typhoon said.

"Fine. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. If you can convince my son of his heritage, I can give the Grass false information about your whereabouts, as well as let you know of their location in return."

"Good, then. Tell Terror a lie as to where our location is, and my pack will pass through Grass territory. I will go with you as a rogue raptor with no pack. Flare, my uh... friend will need to know." Shadow said, before calling to her using the typical raptor call. Flare was there in just a few seconds flat.

"Yes, Shadow?" Flare asked as she entered the beach area Shadow and Typhoon were.

"I need you to catch up with Beta: Wind and the others and lead them safely through Grass Territory as you track the research team. I will accompany Typhoon and infiltrate the Grass Pack. Typhoon and his son are actually Leaf Pack members, but certain circumstances forced them to leave. If this all goes well, you will have two new members by the end of all this." Shadow said happily.

Flare looked uncertain. "I'm sure the details will be explained later, right?" Flare asked.

"Of course." Shadow reassured.

"Okay then. Don't be late for your own vendetta. We'll keep track of them as long as we can." Flare said, before taking off into the woods.

"I'll be as fast as I can." Shadow called after her. "Alright then, let's get going." Shadow said, then began following Typhoon into Grass Territory at a quick pace.

They travelled for several minutes in silence, before Typhoon asked the nagging question. "Those things you carry, they look like something the trespassers use. What are they?"

Shadow looked down at his equipment and tac-vest. "Oh, these. By trespassers, you mean humans, right?"

"Humans? Is that what they call themselves? The creatures that walk upright and wear strange skins over their normal skin and carry metal tools that make loud noises?" Typhoon asked, trying to confirm they were both talking about the same thing.

"That's them. The thing I wear over my torso is a vest," He said, motioning to said item. "and these are called weapons. They are used as a means of defense and attack. The humans made them to counter the fact that they don't have claws or natural weapons. I learned to use them through observation. They are actually pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it." Shadow said thoughtfully, glancing down at his pistol.

"I see." Typhoon said, dodging through trees and underbrush as though it was second nature. Shadow seemed just as adept, dispite carrying a load. "Well, Terror will want to know what they are and how they are used, so I suggest you keep them somewhere safe and out of his sight. He's been trying to figure out how to defeat the trespasser humans and is looking for anyone who might have an idea. If he sees you carrying human weapons, he'll be sure to ask you what you know." Typhoon said wisely. Shadow nodded in understanding.

"Just let me know when we are close and I'll hide them before we get there. I'd prefer to keep them with me as long as I can."

"Sure." Typhoon agreed. The two continued running, trading plans and ideas to complete their goals.

In a bar in Costa Rica, a rather built man with brown hair and stubble on his chin sat drinking a beer with a dull expression. His name was Jacob Pierce, a Pacific Pirate Captain in command of an old Japanese PT boat that was restored and modified for his and his team's purposes. The name of the boat was the Pierce Barracuda. Jacob and his brother, Kyle, started off as a small-time delivery service between the islands in the Pacific, but soon found that Black Market items were where the real money was. Eventually, piracy was what they did for a living, but mostly under the table. They did raid ships for profit on occasion, but they also offered assassination services for the right price. Soon, all of the major gangs and the like who controlled the Pacific knew of the Pierce Pirates and the Barracuda PT boat.

Lately, though, Jacob's team had been out of work, simply looking for someone to work for. Jacob himself was waiting in this bar for one of his teammates to come back with any information on any jobs available. Hell, he'd even take a ship to raid if it got him and his team another meal.

Ordering another round, he was stopped when said teammate arrived. "I got somethin' Cap'n." A woman of about 21 said, sitting on the stool next to him and stealing his drink before he could sip it.

"I hate it when you do that, Kira. Buy your own drink." Jacob groaned, half drunk already. "It better be good." He said, turning to the woman know as Kira.

"Could be better, but atleast it's somethin'." She said, taking another drink. She had neck length, navy-blue hair, done into a low pony tail that was spiked out in all directions in the back, with two chin-length sideburns framing her rather feminine face. Dispite her feminine looks, her violet eyes and smirk held a hint of crazy and mischef, as well as a hint of sadism. She wore a black tank top and bluejean shorts with gun holsters under each arm. In both was a G18 auto-pistol with customized asthetics of silver and ivory, with the initials KM on the handle. Strapped onto each thigh were the long clips of the G18, positioned for quick reloading. She wore black combat boots and black, fingerless gloves to complete the look.

"Well, what is it then?" Jacob asked, loosing interest.

"Apparently, there's been alot of commotion in the area of the Five Deaths Islands 80 miles off the coast here. A ship was seen, anchoring off the coast of Isla Sorna with alot of equipment and vehicles on the deck. Pretty high-tech gear if what I hear was accurate." She shrugged.

"How did you get the tip?" Jacob asked with a knowing and frustrated tone.

"Oh, I just persuaded a guy at the docks to talk." She said with an evil smile.

"You didn't kill him did you?" Jacob sighed.

"No..." She started, but ended up snickering quietly. Jacob looked at her like a father scolding his child. "I just roughed him up abit." She confessed.

"You threatend him." He said, rather than asked. He seemed to have delt with this all before. "I asked you to stop threatening people." Jacob groaned.

"No, you said to stop killing people. You didn't say anything about threatening." She said, smiling widely. "Besides, I never killed anyone unless they shot at me first." She huffed, her lower lip stuck out in a childish manner.

"Yeah, but who instigated it? You did. You really need to tone it down abit. You'll get us killed like that." He said with a sigh. "What else did he say?"

"Well, he did say something about a legend about some fisherman who was lost in that area, but it didn't make much sense to me. Besides, that boat had InGen on the side. You know, the 'Monster Company?' Apparently, they are messing around with their freaks of nature again. I'm sure someone would pay a heavy price to get their hands on some of InGen's equipment." Kira said with a light in her eyes.

"I don't know..." Jacob said, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh come on!" Kira practically begged, at least if you could call hitting someone on the shoulder 'begging.'

"Fine, but we'll only scope it out. If there's something good, we'll take it. If not, well, we just wasted our fuel for nothing. Tell Kyle and Richey to get the boat ready." He said, shooing Kira away. Kira smiled widely then took off out of the bar.

'Finally, something to do!' She thought, walking to the docks.

"Alright, Marines, keep moving!" Sergeant Major Peterson shouted to his team as they ran at double-pace through the jungle. Though none of them would admit it, it was really tiresome carrying over a hundered pounds of gear through thick jungle at a running pace. Their heavy, yet steady breathing gave testament to their efforts, as well as the sweat on their brows and the ache in their muscles. Dispite it all, they kept moving, their training having prepared them for such situations and even worse situations than this. Their morale was high through all adversity, a true example of the unbreakable will of a marine.

"Halt! Five mintue break. Get your fluids and ration bars in ya and get ready to continue. We've still got a while to go. Brennek, Ramirez, you are on watch. Keep those oversized lizards off our butts! Got it?" Peterson shouted.

"Sir!" Came the similtaneous reply as the two began walking around the perimeter of their rest area.

The marines who were resting were content to pour a healthy serving of water over their heads, as well as down their throats. Suddenly, they all felt something thudding in the ground. "Hey, you feel that?" Sergeant Daren asked. Everyone nodded, fear evident in their looks. After several moments passed, Ramirez came running through the camp, running faster than they had been running earlier.

"Run, amigos! Run!" He said in a relativly calm voice compaired to the frightend expression on his face. Brennek wasn't far behind, but was turned and running backwards, aiming his sniper rifle into the trees he had just come out of. Peterson wasn't one to ask too many questions when his marines looked that scared. He knew his men well enough to simply know it was bad if they were running.

"Go! Go! Go!" He shouted, having already grabbed all of his gear and taking off into the woods. All of his men weren't far behind, not willing to disobey a direct order.

A few seconds later, a massive T-rex burst through the trees, roaring angrily. Peterson heard three thundering noises echo behind him, before a loud roar was heard again, before the roar was cut off in the middle by another thundering clap, then a deep rumble echoed through the ground. All the marines stopped in their tracks, looking back, only to see Brennek lying two feet from the agape mouth of the rex, his sniper rifle pointed at the beast, his breathing fast. Three bullet holes adorned the chest of the tyrant king bleeding slowly, but that was it. Looking closer, Peterson saw the final bullet hole in the roof of the beasts mouth, straight up into it's brain. Ramirez and Carson quickly helped Brennek up, dusting him off and laughing out of good sport.

Peterson smiled and laughed, glad that his Marines were alright. "You should have let Carson get him. He has the anti-tank munitions." He laughed, patting Brennek on the shoulder.

"And let him take all the glory? Hell no, sir!" Brennek said, smiling just as big, his breathing still abit fast due to the adrenaline rush.

"Good man, corporal, good man." Peterson said, still laughing. "Aright, men, show's over. We still got a mission to accomplish. Oorah?"

"Oorah!" They all shouted, before taking off at a quick pace into the woods.

Flare finally caught her pack's scent and followed it further into Grass Territory. Her senses were on alert and every step was thought through. She kept her presence to a minimum, careful to avoid spreading her scent as she ran. Full sprint was alot to maintain, but she did it.

Eventually, the pack's scent almost doubled in intesity as she ran, meaning they were close. She stopped at the edge of a clearing and peeked through the underbrush. She had finally caught up, seeing Wind, the pack, and two humans resting in the clearing.

"Alpha: Flare! You caught up." Wind knickered happily, getting up from her place to greet her.

Flare was breathing rather heavily, but was otherwise fine. "Finally. You went a long ways in such a short time. Were you racing or something?"

"Uh... ehe, yeah, a little." Wind said, embarrassed.

Flare began laughing, as it was rare to see Wind so embarrassed. "Wow." She giggled.

"I know, right?" Storm said, laughing as well. Wind scowled at her, but couldn't make an imposing expression when she was so embarrassed, only making what amounted to a pout of a youngling, making everyone laugh harder. Wind then noticed that Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Alpha: Shadow?" She asked, making everyone stop and look at Flare. Cynthia and Tim had also noticed this, as they couldn't really understand anything that was being said anyway.

"A Grass pack member is escourting him to their nest as a rogue. Shadow is going to manipulate their Alpha to allow us safe passage through their territory, as well as get some of their members to join us. That's pretty much all I know." Flare explained. Wind looked completely shocked, as did most of the rest of the raptors.

Sunbeam, however, spoke up. "I'm sure he knows what he's doing. He'll be fine, I know it." She said, reassuring everyone. They all nodded in agreement and settled back into the clearing.

Flare looked around and noticed that it wasn't just a clearing, but a road through the dense jungle. "We're on a trail?"

"Yes. The enemy's scent passes right along this path and continues to follow it. We found the same strange tracks here as we did when we first found their trail. They look like the trail of a snake, as it has no footprints, just one long print. There are several, as each print has several underneath it. They were attempting to go over their tracks, but didn't do a very good job." Wind stated, looking back at the snake-like prints in the dirt road.

"Well, I guess this will be pretty easy then." She said, before simply laying her head down to continue resting her muscles.

Cynthia watched in amazement as the raptors communicated. They really did talk alot more than the ones back at InGen Headquarters. She heard so many new vocalizations that she swore that their language was nearly as or just as complex as human language. She could even make out the different emotions in the vocalizations, from joy, to anger, to sadness, to a simple laugh. She was so enthralled by the depth that raptors spoke, and all she could say was that she wanted to hear more.

"We're getting close. You should hide those weapons now." Typhoon said, slowing to a halt.

Shadow nodded, then looked around. He looked up at the trees around him and spotted a good place to store them. He hopped up onto a branch twenty or so feet off the ground with ease, then he placed the sniper rifle on the branches, along with his vest that held the Uzi and D'eagle. He didn't notice Typhoon's look of astonishment, atleast until he dropped back down. "What?" Shadow asked.

Typhoon looked at Shadow, then up at the branch, then back at Shadow again. He blinked, still wondering how Shadow jumped so high. "H...How did... Nevermind." He said, then he started to walk in the direction of the Grass' nest.

Shadow gave him a puzzled look, then shook his head and continued to follow Typhoon into the tall grass.

They walked for several minutes at a sedate pace, but Shadow knew they were close. The smell was strong everywhere, meaning that there was frequent activity here. He smelled raptor all over the place. Soon they came to the edge of the woods and stopped just before they entered.

"You wait here. I'll speak with Terror, then I'll call to you to let you know when you should come." Typhoon stated, then he walked into the nesting area.

Shadow waited patiently, tapping his claws on the ground. He looked around and sniffed the air, committing the place to memory. Soon, he heard Typhoon call to him, so he walked forward, into the brush that separted him from the pack.

The sight he was greeted with was much different than when he first entered the Leaf Pack's nest. Not only were there more raptors, but their colors were completely heterogenous. Each raptor looked completely unique. The Leaf Pack's females had a general color scheme of a base white, with various colored stripes and spots. The Grass had grey, forest green, black, red, and yellow. It was obvious that most of them came from a large mix of bloodlines, where the Leaf had one strong base bloodline. The variations in color of their stripes and spots proved that they did have other mixes, but had an overriding, strong bloodline that outshone the rest.

The Grass members had a wide variety of genes, none of them outstanding and strong. Several of the group did look to be from the same pack, like a grey male and a forrest green female seemed to be the most numerous in the pack. Typhoon and another raptor, whom he assumed was his son, had a navy blue base, with a thick stripe down their back. Shadow assumed that this was the colors that the Leaf Pack's males had, where the females had a white base.

Shadow shook the thoughts from his head and played the part of a young rogue male looking for a pack. He kept his head low, but showed no sign of fear.

Terror watched the youth approach him with the correct posture, but dispite his submissive posture, it screamed authority. Not only that, but he had those blasted feathers on his head. Terror snorted in discust. Two feather-headed raptors was enough, but another was more than he could stand. He decided to ignore that and focus on the raptor's potential.

"You are Shadow, correct?" Terror asked, raising his posture to make him look as big as possible. He looked down at the black and silver raptor with a critical eye.

"Yes, Alpha." Shadow answered simply, with respect. Terror was pleased by his quick and confident reply.

"I understand that you are looking for a position amongst our pack. Why should I allow you to become one of us?" Terror asked in a commanding tone.

Shadow thought about that for a moment, then looked up at Terror with an unnervingly straight face. "You have no reason to allow me into your pack, Alpha." Shadow began. Terror looked at him inquisitively. Shadow continued, "You have no clue of my past or origin, nor do you know what I am capable of. I only ask that you give me time to prove myself to you, because that is all I can ask." Shadow said, bowing lower with a flourish. He was pleased with himself and his speech.

Terror thought about what he said. He had never heard a better reply to his question than that, and it all made sense. "You are clever as you are eloquent, Shadow. Dispite being so young, you speak with the authority of an alpha. You are also confident, a trait I admire in young ones. That confidence will push you to become stronger than you ever were or ever thought you would be. I will grant you the title of Scout until you can prove yourself to me, then I will give you the title you earned. I will be watching you, evaluating your every move, so do your best." Terror said with a smile. "Welcome to the pack, Scout: Shadow."

"Thank you, Alpha: Terror." Shadow said with a bow. Terror nodded his head, then went back to his nest and sat next to his mate, Alpha: Ivy. She was forest green, much like most of the other females, but had white tiger stripes down her back.

"You're impressed by him..." She began with a knowing smile.

"He certainly is a smart one, that's for sure." He whispered back. "That also makes him dangerous." He added.

"Perhaps..." She replied, watching the raptor in question sit at the base of a tree and get comfortable.

"He said that we don't know what he's capable of, in other words, we don't know if he'll betray us or not. I wonder if we could discourage him from doing that." Terror said to himself.

"Well, I could speak with him about his status. He will also need a mate so he feels more welcome. I could introduce him to our available females if you'd like?" She asked him.

"Do as you wish, Ivy. I'm not particularly thrilled that he's a featherhead though." Terror added with a snort.

"Oh please, I think it looks just fine. There's nothing wrong with feathers." Ivy defended. Terror rolled his eyes at her.

"Whatever... Go talk to Iota: Cyclone and Omicron: Tsunami about him, see if either are interested. Let me know before you introduce them though." Terror said with a disinterested grunt. Ivy nodded, then walked to the said raptors with a casual gate.

Iota: Cyclone and Omicron: Tsunami were the only single females in the pack. Cyclone was forest green with black rings on her tail and legs. Tsunami was also forest green with white stripes and spots adorning her hide. They were obviously pure Grass members.

They both spotted the Alpha female approaching and immediately stood in respect. "Alpha: Ivy." They both said in unison with a nod.

"Be at ease, I only wish to talk with you." Ivy replied settling in next to their nests, which happened to be at the base of the same tree. The two females glanced at each other, then settled back into their nests, waiting for their Alpha to speak. "What do you think of the new member? Speak your mind."

Cyclone and Tsunami both looked slightly taken aback by her sudden question, as they hadn't really put much thought to it. Cyclone spoke first. "Uh... well, he's very... straightforward... He's young... and confident. Both traits are a positive, I suppose. He seems like he's used to being in control of his own life though, maybe even an alpha type. I don't know how well he would do with someone else leading him." She said.

"Alright, I can see where you're comming from. Tsunami, what do you think?" Ivy turned her attention to the other raptor.

"He seems nice enough. Handsome too. He seems to be very smart, but quiet. I would like to get to know him better." Tsunami said a matter of factly.

"Well put. I actually had an ulterior motive for speaking with you two, I must confess. Alpha: Terror believes it would make him feel more welcome if we were to give him a mate. Would either of you be interested in meeting him?" Ivy asked with a smile. Both raptors in question looked at each other, shock adorning both their faces. They began stuttering nonsense in their flustered state. They both shutup at the same time and looked at each other again, then Cyclone continued.

"W-well, I would not be apposed to maybe becomming friends with him, but mates? I don't even know the kid. Besides, he only looks about a year and a half, maybe two years old if you push it. I'm three years five months old! I'm pretty much old enough to be his mother!" Cyclone stated incredulously.

"I am not opposed to the idea. I'm within his age bracket, as I'm only two years seven months old." Tsunami said.

"Well alright. I will introduce you to him then. Come with me." Ivy said, before standing up and walking toward Shadow's nest. Tsunami looked back at Cyclone, then got up and followed Ivy slowly.

Shadow sensed someone approaching, so he opened his eyes and lifted his head off the ground and looked around. It was then that he noticed two forest green raptors walking towards him. They both appeared to be Grass females, one he recognized as Terror's mate. He immediately stood in respect to the Alpha female.

"Yes, Alpha:...um, I appologize, I never got your name." Shadow said sheepishly.

"Ivy. Relax. I just wanted to speak with you." She said, sitting next to his nest. Shadow seemed slightly confused, but shook it off and sat back down in his spot. He briefly acknowledged the raptor behind Ivy with a friendly nod.

"What did you want to speak with me about, Alpha: Ivy?" He asked.

"What is your first impression of our pack?" She asked with a smile.

Shadow purred thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on the edge of his nest. "Well, so far as I can tell, the pack is well disciplined and can work together well. There is alot of variety in the members. I can tell that many of your members are from other packs, so it makes me more comfortable being different."

"Alpha: Terror seems to be a good leader. Very capable. Maybe a bit harsh on occasion, but sometimes it is necessary. Overall, I think this pack is well off. Why do you ask?" Shadow finished, looking at her with a questioning expression.

"Well, I like to make it a point to make sure our new members are happy." She stated, glancing back at Tsunami. Shadow caught her glance and immediately knew what was up. Shadow sighed quietly to himself. 'Not another arranged raptor marriage.' Shadow thought in exasperation. He wasn't sure how to politely turn down her offer without making himself look like a total jerk, but he supposed he could buy himself some time.

"What did you have in mind, Alpha: Ivy?" Shadow asked, playing dumb.

"Well, we figured that the best way to make you feel more welcome was to give you a mate so that you feel like you belong. Shadow, this is Omicron: Tsunami. She has agreed to be your mate."

Whoah! This again? Shadow always seems to end up in these situations, dosen't he. Oh well, he'll figure it out... next time. LOL

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu


	10. The Slaughter

Chapter 10: The Slaughter

Day 8: Sunday

Shadow had been awake all night, knowing that with every passing hour, the InGen Research Team got closer and closer to escape. Add on top of that a raptor father who wants you to convince his son about his heritage, and then slap on ANOTHER raptor who wants to get in your proverbial pants, and you get one flustered Shadow.

He was still surprised that he was able to buy himself some time before they forced him to mate with Tsunami. He had explained that he preferred to get to know his prospective mate, and Ivy had immediately agreed saying, "Take all the time you need."

He had sighed in relief when it was 'over,' but he knew it wouldn't be over until he killed Hopkins. He had to convince Razor first, then fight his way out of Terror's pack, then catch up to the research team and attack them, then instate Razor as Alpha of the Leaf Pack, then get himself, Cynthia, Tim, and the marines off the island safely.

He sighed at the near impossibility of it all. Today, he would approach Razor and try to slowly convince him, then he would go from there. He made plans beforehand, but he generally ended up winging it. His plans were ever-changing, constantly morphing to compensate for the situation. He was still surprised he had made it this far without an impasse.

The sun slowly peaked over the horizon of the grasslands, then the raptors began to stirr from their slumber. He watched them with mild curiosity as they shifted in their nests, then lifted their heads and yawned at various intervals. Terror was one of the first ones awake besides Shadow himself, as he hadn't slept anyway.

A new smell had drifted in during the night, and it turned out that he recognized it as the smell of exhaust and gasoline. The research team was close.

He glanced back at Terror, watching to see when Terror finally caught the scent. He was rewarded when he suddenly lifted his snout, his eyes wide as he sniffed the air. By that time, Shadow had appraoched him and stood nearby.

"You smell it too, Alpha: Terror?" Shadow said seriously, his eyes narrowing as he looked around.

"Yeah..." Terror replied distractedly.

"It's them... the tresspassers." Shadow said with a slight smirk as Terror's eyes widend even further as he turned to look at Shadow.

"You know of them?" Terror said urgently. Shadow nodded.

"Yes, I had been following them when Kappa: Typhoon found me. I have knowledge of them that you might be able to use if you'd like?" Shadow said, his smirk growing wider.

"Tell me of them." Terror commanded, his eyes flashing with anger.

"They call themselves Humans, and are a highly advanced race of beings. They have no natural defenses like we do, so they had to rely on their knowledge to build tools to defend themselves." Shadow informed quietly.

"How do you know so much of them?" Terror asked suspiciously. Shadow's smirk grew even wider.

"I have my ways..." He replied vaguely, entertained by Terror's snort of dissatisfaction. "Ask me what you will about them, and I will answer." Shadow continued.

"What are those beasts they ride, those sticks they carry, and those strange skins they wear?" Terror asked.

"Those are another thing the Humans built to help defend themselves. They are called 'vehicles.' Those 'sticks' that they carry that make loud noises and kill what they point at are called 'guns.' The 'skins' they wear over their bodies are called 'clothes.' Anything else?" Shadow asked.

"Yes," He replied, shocked that he supposedly knew so much. He again wondered how Shadow knew what he knew. "The... vehicles... how do we kill one?" Terror asked, remembering how Upsilon: Striker had answered. He would compare what he knew to what Shadow said.

"Vehicles cannot be operated without someone inside. They are not a living being, thus cannot be killed. If you kill the Human operator inside, the vehicle will be rendered harmless until another Human takes the dead one's place. You can disable a vehicle and prevent another Human from being able to use it though." Shadow said a-matter-of-factly.

Terror paused to regard the dark raptor for a minute. "Well, Scout, since you seem to know so much about these 'humans,' you will help me lead my pack in another attack on them. If we fail, I will kill you." Terror growled.

"And if we succeed?" Shadow asked with a smirk.

"Well, your place amongst the pack ranks is pretty much guaranteed."

"Yes, Dr. Hopkins, we are on schedule. We will be entering the worker village within the hour." The Head Mercenary replied.

"Excellent. Notify me once you've retrieved the documents."

"Yes sir."

"Have you made contact with the target yet?"

"No sir, but we have a little something set up for him. We know that he's been tracking us for a while, but our guys haven't been able to pinpoint his location. We know he will attack soon, so we're ready for him."

"Good. Remember, stick to the plan. I can't afford to have you fail this. If you fail, not only will none of your men get paid, but we will most likely get sent to jail for life."

"Don't worry sir. He's as good as ours. There's no way we can lose."

"That's what I want to hear. Good work, Marcus. Let me know once you've captured the target."

"Yes, Doctor." Then the mercenary now known as Marcus hung up the satellite phone as he continued to drive the large research bus through the woods on a small, muddy road that lead to the worker village.

About twenty minutes later, the woods cleared and they faced the large electric gates and fences surrounding the old worker village, with dinosaur rib-cages forming a morbid entry way to the gate.

He picked up the team communicator and spoke into it. "Park the larger vehicles in the protective formation infront of that gate. The smaller vehicles inside the ring." He said simply, then several replies of confirmation were heard, before the vehicles took up their protective formation. He parked the bus, then grabbed his elephant hunting rifle and slung the massive weapon over his shoulder after he got out of the bus. A medium-sized man who appeared very fit then approached him as he walked to the gate control box. The man wore a red t-shirt under a camoflage jacket with the Austrian flag on the shoulder, with regular blue jeans and brown cowboy boots. He had an old grenade launcher known as the 'Thumper' strapped to his back, with a satchel full of the genades crossing his torso. In his hands he held the Austrian-made Steyr AUG V A2 Rifle, with the clips stored in clip holders on his legs. Each leg held about five clips. An eight-inch combat knife was strapped to his left arm, the handle pointing down.

"Mr. Maddock. Would you like me to accompany you inside, or would you like me to guard the vehicles?" He spoke in a heavy Austrian accent. No one knew his real name, so they had agreed to call him simply, 'The Austrian.'

"Yeah, you're with me in the village. Get one of the researchers and leave the rest with the vehicles. We only need one so that we can identify the documents. All the mercs go in. I want us ready to go in five." Marcus said, walking to the control room to imput the code.

"Yes, Sir." The Austrian said, then walked back to the convoy.

Marcus tapped in the code on the control panel, then heard the door click, signifying the release of the locks. He stepped through, pulling his .38 S&W Special Pistol from it's holster and scannning ahead of him as he walked through. He saw nothing but the abandonned buildings that made up the worker village. He saw the main operations building toward the back, a small building that was once a tool shed to the left, an old church to the right, and various cars and buldings scattered throughout the village.

He walked to the control pannel for the main gate and swiped the key card casually, hearing the locking mechanisms click, then the gate lazily swung ajar, creaking from old age. Marcus grabbed the gate after putting the card away, then motioned for the fourteen mercenaries and one researcher waiting on the other side to come through.

The Austrian walked in with a casual, but alert stride, escourting the researcher who weilded a pump-action 12 guage hunting shotgun, most likely his own from his house. Marcus glanced back at the rest of the InGen researchers climbing back into the vehicles, nine in all.

Each of the mercs all filed into the village in two-by-two cover formation, their guns shouldered and ready. They had former military training, and they all acted like a single unit, coving each other and checking their corners just like actual military personnel. To them, war was their job, their duty, their life. They were paid to go to war, and no matter who they were fighting for, they did their job to perfection. They all came from various countries, but that didn't matter anymore. They were one squad.

The Austrian stayed by the researcher, guarding him from any threat. Marcus had point, and several other mercs had the rear. The Austrian was in the middle, guarded front and back from any threat by his comrades.

Marcus took cover behind a tree as they travelled down the main road at a steady pace. He signalled for the squad to halt, then scanned ahead. The main operations building wasn't too far away. He motioned for the group to continue moving.

Shadow watched the large group of mercs move into the village with military-like coordination and cunning. They moved quickly, yet carefully, causing him to stare in amazement. How could they attack a group that coordinated without weapons? It took a little explaining, but Terror had accepted his story about his human weapons and allowed him to use them in the attack with the promise that he would teach the whole pack to use them later.

He reapproched Terror's position in the edge of the woods. "Alpha: Terror, this is going to be a bit more risky than I had originally thought. The most vulnerable enemy are holed-up in their vehicles at the entrance of the town, while the most dangerous of them are moving in a very effective defensive formation. You're raptors won't be able to get close enough to attack without being seen. I have an idea, but you and your pack will have to do exactly as I say." Shadow said in a serious manner. Little did he realize that those words were not words you said to an alpha.

Terror instantly looked furious. "Are you challenging my authority, Scout?" He said in a threatening manner, posturing.

"Alpha: Terror, I am merely trying to convey that unless this is carried out perfectly, your whole pack will die at the humans' hands. Do you want that?" Shadow said in a pleading manner.

"No, but they will only follow MY orders, and you will make suggestions to ME, where I will make the final decision." He growled angrily, emphasizing each reference to himself with a stomp of his foot.

Shadow realized that the only way to save the pack was to take control away from the current alpha. "Not acceptable, Terror! Unless you are willing to follow exactly what I say, I'll have to take control of this pack and make sure they survive." He roared in return. Terror screeched in anger, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"YOU DARE QUESTION MY AUTHORITY! YOU ARE NOT FIT TO LEAD THIS PACK! UNLESS YOU BACK DOWN NOW, I WILL BE FORCED TO KILL YOU, SHADOW!" He roared, getting into a fighting position.

Ivy suddenly jumped between the two posturing males. "Please! You musn't fight! Alpha: Terror, please just listen to him. He knows what he is talking about with these humans!" She pleaded in a worried voice.

"You're siding with him on this? My own mate? A scout questions my authority and you side with him?" Terror shouted, outraged. He glanced at the rest of his pack, seeing uncertainty in their eyes. He turned to adress them. "Have I ever led you astray? Have I ever done anything to put the pack in unnecessary danger?" He asked rhetorically. He turned back to Shadow. "If you believe that I am putting this pack in danger by leading them, by all means, kill me and take the role of Alpha. If you cannot, then you are unfit to lead and I will kill you where you stand." Terror said, leveling his head with Shadow.

Shadow seemed to sigh to himself, before he began to casually remove his gear and set it next to a tree nearby. Ivy looked on in worry as the situation seemed to spiral out of control. She didn't want them to fight. She loved her mate, but she knew the scout was right. The things he knew, the weapons he had shown them, she knew that he could lead the pack to victory over the humans. But Terror believed otherwise. She wanted Terror to see the truth, but he seemed to be blinded by his power and status. Shadow was the voice of reason, but Terror seemed to only reject it. She stepped away from the two raptors she knew were about to fight to the death. She glanced at Terror and only saw hatred, then she glanced at Shadow and only saw sincerity and truth, as well as a hint of pity. He glanced at her and gave her an apollogetic look, then turned to face Terror. She saw the rest of the pack watch on in silent expectation.

"Then, I guess, this situation has gone beyond words, Terror. I accept your challenge." Shadow said in resignation, dropping into a low fighting stance, ready to pounce. Terror's eyes flashed in anger. He would show this... trash who was alpha.

Terror screeched loudly as he lunged forward, his teeth bared, his claws outstretched, waiting to tear the life from it's opposition. Shadow merely sidestepped and slammed his elbow into the back of Terror's neck, causing him to collapse to the ground. Shadow heard most of the pack gasp in shock. Terror groaned as he stood back up, shaking his head of the fuzziness that had clouded it. His head quickly turned to face Shadow again, his eyes showing his hatred.

Shadow had his eyes closed, shaking his head in pity. It was almost like he wasn't even trying, and that merely served to piss Terror off even more. Terror screeched another battle cry as he began to circle Shadow, growling as he did. Shadow simply watched as he circled around, not changing the direction of his own body.

Once Terror had flanked to his left, he lunged again, only to recieve a tail to the side of his face, slamming him into the ground again. He tumbled across the ground, then came to a rest infront of Shadow.

He quickly shot back up and slashed at Shadow's neck with his foreclaws, which Shadow merely stepped back to dodge. Once Terror's claws had stopped, Shadow grabbed his arm, placed his foot infront of Terror's, and pulled, causing Terror to stumble forward, off balance. Shadow then slammed his foot down on Terror's, then followed up with a punch to his ribbs, making Terror gasp in pain as he fell to the ground once again. Although Terror didn't realize it, Shadow was going very easy on him.

Shadow casually walked in a semi-circle and stopped a few paces away, watching the expression of the rest of the pack, which varied from shocked to impressed, to saddened. He shook his head again, seeing how pointless Terror's efforts were.

Terror stumbled to his feet again, glaring daggers at Shadow, before he lunged once again, his mouth agape and aiming for his neck. Shadow deflected his head to the right with his right arm, then slammed his left fist into his ribbs again, pushing him to the ground. Shadow wasn't going for the kill, that much was obvious to everyone, including Terror. It only served to infuriate him more. Ivy had seen enough.

"No more! Please! Stop this, Terror! Can't you see it's pointless?" She pleaded, standing infront of Shadow in a defensive manner, though whether to defend Shadow from Terror, or to defend Terror from Shadow was debatable. Shadow moved to stand next to Ivy.

"There is a reason I know so much about these humans." Shadow said, gaining everyones' attention. "The reason is because they betrayed me. I once lived among them in harmony, and they had accepted me for who I was. But then they had captured me, did experiments on me and left me here to die. Those humans down in the village were sent to kill me. The reason I know so much about them... is because I was once one of them." He revealed, levelling a glare at Terror.

"You were a human? That's not possible!" Terror shouted. "You expect me to believe that pack of lies?"

"Oh, I'm not lying, and I can prove it." Suddenly, a black smoke began to enshroud him, obscuring him from view. They all looked on in shock, as the darkness seemed to come directly from his skin. Eventually, the darkness faded, leaving a human standing amongst them. "As you can see, I was once what you would call a tresspasser, but the humans changed me and tried to have me killed. I survived and pressed on, not allowing something as petty as this to hinder me. I embraced what I was, and used it to survive. I am no longer a human, nor am I a full raptor. I don't really know what I am anymore. The only thing that is important is that I know what they are capable of, and unless your pack is willing to follow what I say, they will die when they try to attack the humans in that village." Shadow said in a final manner. He then allowed the dark smoke to cover him, leaving him in his raptor form again.

Terror stood up, glaring at Shadow, not sure what to make of this... demon. "Those of you," He began, adressing the pack, "Those of you that believe that a raptor pack should be lead by a true-blooded raptor and trust in your leader's guidance, come to me. Those of you who think that this... monster is worthy of trust, stand near him." Terror growled.

No one moved for a long time, not sure what they should do. A vast majority had been horrified at Shadow's transformation, but alot also knew that Terror didn't know enough about the humans to lead an effective attack. Eventually, almost as one, the pack began to move to the side they had chosen.

Shade was the first to move, walking straight toward Terror, his mate Flower in close pursuit. Soon after, the rest moved to Terror's side, uncertain expressions on their face.

Terror watched in shock and anger as Ivy slowly took a stand next to Shadow, a resolute fire in her eyes. This caused a tremor of uncertainty to ripple through the pack. Typhoon was the first to gain some backbone and move to stand next to Shadow, having been content to blend in until this point, then emboldend by Ivy's resolute stand. Tsunami also meekly walked over to stand next to Shadow.

Surprisingly, the middle-aged Utah Raptor, Striker moved to stand behind Shadow. Striker's mate, Rose followed soon after out of devotion to him. Shadow looked to Striker and nodded in respect, receiving a nod in return from the older raptor.

Shadow looked back to Razor, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes. Then he looked at Typhoon, who was standing next to himself.

"Beta: Razor." Shadow said in a clear voice, gaining said raptor's attention. "You're place is at your father's side."

Razor looked at him with a confused expression. "My father is dead. I don't know what you're talking about." he said indignantly.

"He's not dead, merely hiding. I could tell he was your father the instant I saw you, as you look alot like him. The blood of the Leaf Pack runs in your veins. Tell me, haven't you ever wondered why no one looked anything like you in this pack?" Shadow asked.

Razor looked around at the rest of the raptors, well aware of the differences between him and the mostly grey males that made up the rest of the pack, besides the ones like Claw from the Rock Pack and Striker of questionable decent. Then his eyes fell on Typhoon, who was watching expectantly, hope shining in his eyes.

"You are my father?" He asked, shock in his voice. Typhoon simply nodded in shame, ashamed not of his son, but of his own cowardice.

"Yes, I am. I joined the Grass Pack to defend the last of my eggs from death. Terror's father, Alpha: Mauler had attacked the Leaf two years ago, killing your mother before we had even realized there was an attack. Your egg was the only one to survive the following battle. I joined them so that I could keep you alive." Typhoon revealed, bowing his head.

The raptors who hadn't already known or weren't present during the said attack were shocked to learn that both Typhoon and Razor were originally from the Leaf Pack. Razor stared at his father in shock, not sure what to make of the revelation. He seemed lost in thought for several minutes, then a new fire of determination burned in his eyes. He confidently strode to Shadow's side, turning to glare at Terror for never telling him the truth.

The two groups stared each other down for several more moments, waiting for everyone to make their final decision, then Terror broke the silence. "Ivy, if you truly believe that... thing is right, then I can no longer consider you my mate. You are a traitor and a coward, and I want nothing more to do with you." Terror spat. Ivy stood strong, dispite the tears running down the side of her face. Terror continued, "Those of you who have chosen me, the one who has never done wrong by his pack, come with me to rid this island of the trespassers." He said, turning to the village and walking towards it. The rest of his pack followed dutifully.

Terror turned back once more to face Shadow as his pack continued on. "If I see you or any of your traitors again, consider yourselves dead." He then turned again and followed his pack to the village.

Shadow shook his head in sadness. He needed to help them, even if they had turned against him. He didn't want any of them to die because their leader was ignorant. He glanced back at the faces behind him. They varied from anger, to extreme sadness. He looked on Tsunami's face as she watched her best friend Cyclone walk away, most likely to her death if he didn't do anything. He turned to Ivy to set everything straight.

"Ivy... I believe it's time I was truthful with you. I am the current Alpha of the Leaf pack, and I came here seeking revenge on the humans that betrayed me. I know that infiltrating your pack to accomplish my goals wasn't the best thing I could have done, as it ended with the splitting of the Grass Pack and the end of your relationship with Terror. I just want to apologize f-" Suddenly he was silenced.

"I knew..." Ivy interrupted. Shadow gave her a shocked stare. "I knew you were an Alpha the moment I saw you present yourself to Terror. You carried yourself as such. There is nothing to apologize for. I made my decision, and here I stand. You have every right to pursue your goal against the humans, and it was fate that you came to us before Terror lead our whole pack to destruction in a war with the humans. Because you are here, you saved a handful of our pack, and for that I am grateful." She said, turning to stand next to the rest of her pack. "What will you do, Alpha: Shadow?" She asked with a knowing smile. It was then that Shadow knew what he was to do.

Marcus slowly scanned left and right as he entered the main operations building's front doors, followed closely by the Austrian and the researcher. He raised his left hand and signaled for the researcher to move out to find the documents. He did so quickly, escourted by the Austrian. The rest of the thirteen mercs either set up a perimeter around the building, or patrolled the halls of said building.

Nothing happend for almost five minutes, except for the occasional creak of the building, or the sound of footsteps from the halls. Finally, the researcher and the Austrian came back with an old-looking file with several documents and an old-timey floppy disk case.

"Alright, I've got the documents, Mr. Maddock. Let's get out of here..." The researcher said. Many of the researchers disliked the fact that they had to capture the rogue supersoldier instead of just kill it, and it left them feeling rather uneasy.

"Not yet..." He chuckled slightly. "We've still got something we're waiting for..." He smiled at the Austrian, who returned it with an evil grin, pulling the bolt on the AUG and loading a round, almost as if eager for the fight ahead. "Get him back to the convoy. We'll camp here for the night."

The Austrian nodded, then escourted the frightened researcher back to the vehicles, while the rest of the mercs began gathering into the courtyard infront of the main building.

Just as Marcus started down the steps of the building with a couple other mercs, a scream was heard from inside the building. Marcus quickly turned back and pointed his elephant rifle at the doors, then signalled for two mercs to search the building. One had an M-16 while the other had an Ak-47.

Terror watched as two of the humans slowly approached the building as Claw finished off the first human they had caught with his killing claw. Blood pooled beneath the corpse, the smell of it causing their instincts to go into a frenzy. Terror shuddered in anticipation as bloodlust and rage clouded his mind, watching with satisfaction as the rest of his loyal raptors followed him into blissful bloodlust.

"Spread out and show no mercy! Today, we of the Grass Pack will expel the humans from this Island... for good!" He called loudly, then his pack rushed out in all directions, spreading throughout the building.

The two mercs recoiled slightly at the loud barks comming from inside the building, then glanced at each other worriedly. Openning the door quietly, the first motioned for the second to head left, while he made his way to the right side of the lobby. Heading down the right hallway he blanched at what he saw. The corpse was ripped to shreads, his intestines looking like they had been ripped out of his gut and piled up next to him. His legs and arms looked completely freed from their skin and his face had been mauled beyond recognition. The merc ignored the sight and raised his gun as he continued down the hall way towards the corpse.

Suddenly, as he was passing an office door, it exploded off of it's hinges, knocking him to the floor. He screamed as the several hundred pound raptor on the other side of the door crushed him into the ground with it's weight and roared angrily. His M-16 had been knocked away from him, so he reached for his pistol and aimed through the door.

He rapid-fired the pistol into the door, hearing the raptor screech in anguish, before he felt the raptor slump, pinning him to the ground. He tried to lift the door off, but from his awkward position, he couldn't get the leverage necessary to lift it.

He wriggled without success, then froze as he heard an angry growl.

Terror growled in anger as he saw Gamma: Shade lying limply on a door, obviously dead. Terror shifted his gaze to the human still pinned beneah the fallen raptor, before he roared in anger and ran at the human, intent on killing it where it lay.

The merc yelled in fear as he tried to manuever his pistol so he could shoot the incomming raptor. He struggled and pushed, but it was for nought as his face was torn from his head by the jaws of the raptor.

The second merc heard the screams of his fellow merc, and they only served to scare him further. He dashed down the hallway, then stopped at the door at the end, pressing his back against the frame and peering through the small window on the door. He saw nothing.

Suddenly he heard a quiet growl, causing him to quickly shift his gaze back down the hall way in time to see a forest green raptor with black tiger stripes launching at his face. He screamed as he pointed his AK-47 and held down the trigger.

The raptor didn't even screech in pain as it simply collapsed to the ground, a pool of blood from the numerous bullet holes in it's head already forming beneath it. He held a hand over his chest to calm his rapidly beating heart, thankful for the fact that it still did.

Just as soon as he had caught his breath, he heard a wheezing noise, before the door busted into several pieces, allowing the raging mute raptor on the other side to pounce and tear into the human that had killed his mate.

Pyro would have screeched if he could, but was content to rake his claws across the murderer, satisfaction filling his mind as the blood from the corpse sprayed onto his head and chest. The guts of his prey lay in a mess on the top of the one-time merc.

Once he was satisfied that his prey was dead, he turned his attention back to his now dead mate, Jade. He wheezed in anguish, mourning the loss of his loved one. He would miss the way she always doted on him.

Shadow crouched behind a fallen tree at the edge of the forest and glared at the group of mercs gathered infront of the building. Pulling his M-21 from his back, he took aim at one of the mercs before he openned fire.

Marcus watched the entrance of the building, waiting for the two mercs he had sent in to report back. He tunred back to the Austrian, who had just come back from depositing the resercher back at the convoy.

"They should have been back by now. You and you," He said, pointing at two mercs behind the Austrian. "Go in there and see what happend to those two idiots." He shouted, thrusting his thumb back at the building.

"Yes-" *Thud* Suddenly a pillar of blood sprayed out from one of the mercs heads, spraying across his buddy next to him, then his corpse collaped to the ground, twitching with a large hole blasted through his head. His buddy gasped in horror, before returning fire in the direction he thought the bullet came from. The rest of the squad ducked for cover behind the broken-down vehicles that littered the courtyard.

Marcus dove behind the closest car and peered back over the hood, pointing his rifle into the woods. He didn't see anything. The merc who had lost his buddy continued to scream in rage as he unloaded round after round from his machine gun into the forest.

After a few seconds, he clicked empty. As he released the spent clip and reached for a new one, another round flew silently from the tree-line and into his skull. He dropped with a thump, his trigger finger pulsing the gun, causing it to click harmlessly over and over.

Marcus' eyes widened. "Return fire! Kill that bastard!" He shouted, not thinking. They did so without a second thought, filling the area with gunfire.

Shadow finched as a few rounds from the barrage slammed into the tree he had used for cover, then replaced the sniper rifle on his back and pulled his shotgun out and ran to the left, using the trees as cover. They weren't sure of his location and simply sprayed the forest with rounds in a hope of hitting something. While they waisted time and ammo, he would circle around and flank them.

Flare stopped as she heard the loud staccato of gunfire, but she didn't realize it as such. She had never heard gunfire before. She glanced at Cynthia and Tim expectantly, trying to see if they knew what the noise was.

Cynthia's eyes widened as she heard the shots. They weren't far away. "That's gunfire! Let's go! We have to see what's happening!" She shouted, pointing in the direction she heard it from.

Flare recognized Cynthia's urgent voice and body language, then ordered her pack to keep moving and investigate the noises.

Marcus realized that whoever was shooting was most likely the supersoldier they were trying to capture. He ordered a cease fire. "Austrian! Take one guy with you and search those woods and make sure we didn't hit our target. We can't afford to lose our cool after we've come so far. Non-lethal shots only, and remember, use our little surprise if you see him." he said with a smile, which the Austrian returned with his own.

He motioned with a simple wave of his hand to the guy behind him, then ran full sprint in the direction of the woods, taking cover behind various obsticals as he went. The merc behind him followed closely, covering him.

Shadow noticed that a couple of mercs were headed into the woods where he had just been. He smirked. He could take them out easy.

Marcus motioned for several of the mercs to approach. Once they were within earshot, he whispered. "Get the traps set up around the building and the cars around us. We want to catch this bastard alive, otherwise we won't get paid. Get the attatchments on your guns and be ready for him. He's alot faster than any of us, so be ready." Marcus said, then the mercs set off to fulfill his orders.

Terror and the rest of his pack watched as the humans set off about the vehicles and began putting small objects down near them. He wondered briefly what they were, but decided to ignore it. It was time to attack.

"Go, and leave not one alive!" he barked, then smiled as his pack blasted through the glass doors of the building toward the ignorant humans. He followed just behind them and rushed into the fray.

Marcus flinched as he heard a loud barking noise from the building and glanced back just in time to see seven raptors burst from the doors and run towards them. "Watch out! Open fire!" he shouted, pointing his rifle and pulling the trigger. He smiled as the head of one of them was completely blown away.

Terror watched in horror as Delta: Flower collapsed to the ground, headless, only the remains of her bottom jaw left. Her form tumbled down the steps limply and came to an awkward rest at the bottom. Rage overtook the rest of the pack as they only increased their speed and began pouncing on the humans yet to turn around. That's when everything went to hell.

Shadow briefly noticed that the mercs were firing again, but he had to consentrate on his current prey. Leaping silently into the branches of a tree, he watched as the two mercs below him slowly scanned the surroudning forest. Slowly, he took aim with his shotgun, waiting for the right moment.

Suddenly, just as he was about to fire, the first of them pulled what looked like a smoke grenade from his vest and threw it into the tree he was currently occupying. He yelped as the grenade stuck to his shoulder, then began releasing a gas from it's top. He desperately grasped at it as he fell from the tree. The gas was some sort of knock out gas. He could already feel his consciousness wavering. He finally got a grasp on the grenade and pulled it off, then threw it as hard as he could into the woods.

He stumbled slightly, the effects of the gas making him dizzy. He couldn't move correctly, as the world was spinning too fast for him to do much of anything. He shook his head, then looked back to where he last saw the mercs. He quickly brought up his shotgun and fired, watching in relief as the merc before him flew back, a giant hole in his chest.

He shook his head again to clear the fuzziness, just as the other merc revealed himself.

The Austrian saw his teammate fly back, dead from a shotgun blast to the chest. He smirked. It was time to see if supersoldiers were worth the time and money spent on them.

He stepped around the tree to see a black raptor with silver stripes, wearing a tac-vest and holding a shotgun in it's claws staggering about, trying to rid itself of the effects of the knock out gas he had thrown earlier. He approached slowly, waiting for the thing to notice him. It did soon after.

Shadow glared at the merc and pointed his shotgun at him. The man made a placating gesture, throwing his guns to the side and pulling his vest off and discarding it aswell. Shadow tilted his head questioningly as the man pulled a large hunting knife from his shoulder-sheath and held it at the ready.

"I want you to fight me. Man to man!" He said with a thick Austrian accent. It reminded him of Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent. The Austrian slowly approached in a loose fighting stance, his knife held in his right hand.

Shadow chuckled dispite himself. This was war. There were no rules here. Only the smartest survive. That man had just discarded his best defense in favor of a hand-to-hand weapon. He was stupid as he was brave. Shadow simply raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger. The man never knew what hit him.

Moving clumsily to the merc's corpse, he picked up a rather interesting looking weapon. He smiled. This was an AUG V A2, one of his favorite weapons. Trading his shotgun for this, he placed the gun on his back and began grabbing all the clips from the corpse. He had plenty of ammo.

Marcus looked at his remaining seven mercs as they continued to shoot the raptors rushing at them. They were all afraid, firing in a blind panic. But even so, their military training allowed their shots to strike true with only three men lost.

He strode into the bloodbath after every raptor was downed, scanning the faces of his dead mercs and watching the bodies of the dead raptors. Seven raptors versus eight mercs. The raptors had no chance. He smirked as he came to the still living form of a mostly grey raptor with a wide red stipe down it's back and black tiger stipes decorating the rest of it's body. It whimpered in pain from the bullet wounds in it's stomach and legs. It stopped and turned it's head to regard him with both fear and hatred flashing in it's eyes as it whimpered again. He pointed his rifle at it's head.

Terror shook as pain wracked his body. His whole pack had fallen to the humans, while they had only been able to kill three of them. These humans were brutal as they were efficient. He looked out across the battlefield, seeing the limp bodies of his friends and packmates, their blood running freely and pooling beneath them. A shadow crossed his blurring field of vision, and he turned to glare at the human looking down at him. He tried to growl threateningly, but it only came out as a pained whimper. He cursed himself for his show of weakness. Perhaps he should have relinquished command to Shadow. Perhaps he could have avoided this tragedy.

The human pointed it's weapon at his head. Terror closed his eyes with only one thought crossing his mind. 'I'm sorry...' Then he ceased to exist.

Cynthia stared on in horror at the sight below from the hill behind the village. It was a terrible bloodbath. The mercs had slaughtered a whole pack of raptors. She glanced at Flare, who had her head down in some show of respect and mourning. She turned away from the horrid sight below.

Shadow stumbled back to the edge of the woods to see what was left of the Grass Pack lying at the foot of the steps of the main building, dead. He shook his head of the sadness that threatened to cloud his judgment. He still had to find a way to kill the rest of these men and get off the island. He crouched behind a tree to think.

Marcus walked away from the raptor corpse and adressed the last four of his men. "Alright, get your grenade launchers and get ready to flush him out of those woods. We capture this jerk now." He said. They all pulled an MGL from their packs and got into position behind some cover. Marcus grabbed an MGL from one of the corpses and readied it. "Fire!" He shouted. A wave of gas grenades launched into the woods with a loud hiss, then they saw a cloud of it filling the edge of the woods. There was no way anything could still be awake after a barrage like that.

"Fire again!" he shouted with a smirk. They all aimed a little higher and fired, sending the grenades even further into the woods. The cloud of knock out gas got even thicker.

Shadow's eyes widened when he heard the order to fire. He ducked as low as he could, expecing to hear gunfire. He was confused when he only heard a series of thumps and hisses.

Suddenly an object landed next to him. It was a gas grenade! He got up as fast as he could in his dizzy state, as the effects of the last gas grenade still hadn't let up. He stumbled away, only to see another grenade before him.

He turned into the deeper woods to run away. As he ran, another grenade landed infront of him. He recoiled in shock, his head becomming even more dizzy. He stumbled away, back to the edge of the woods. He was blacking out! He couldn't control his body. He felt weak as his mind tried to shut down.

He tripped on a root and stumbled out of the woods. He briefly noted a merc's satisfied grin as everything finally faded to black.

Marcus smiled as a black and silver raptor stumbled out of the woods and collapsed, unconscious. It was wearing a tactical vest and had several guns on it's back. It had to be the supersoldier they were after. Running quickly over to his quary, he pulled a needle from his vest and injected it with the compound. He had been told that this would not only keep him unconscious for the trip back to San Diego, but it would also disable his ability to change back into human form.

"Radio for the boat and tell them to get the helicopter over here. We've got what we came for." he shouted. A merc with a radio did just that.

Yo! Silver Ryuu here! Sorry about the long wait, but atlast, here it is! Sorry about the cliffhanger, but don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapter. I think I'm on a roll. LOL.

Anyway, here's the usual. If you like it... Awesome! If not... well, that's your opinion. I'm doing this for my own entertainment and not for anyone else.

I like how it's going so far and I know where I want to take this. The hardest part is just the writing of each of the minor events to advance the story to the parts I want to write.

Sorry about the fast switching of scenes for the second half of the story, but there was alot to write about and it was all pretty much happening at the same time. Sorry if that confuses anyone. It was tough to write, and I even knew what was happenning! LOL.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu


	11. Trapped

Chapter 11: Trapped

Day 8: Sunday (Continued)

Sergeant Major Peterson and his squad came to a clearing where he noticed a group of raptors that he found rather familiar standing at the edge of a slight drop off down into what was probably a valley. He notied two people with them.

"Hey, where's Joseph?" he asked. The girl turned to him with a shocked expression.

"He's... down there... unconscious. He's gotten captured..." She said, tears in her eyes. Peterson and his squad quickly ran to the edge of the hill and peered down into the village. He spotted a group of mercs loading a helicopter with the body of a raptor with some difficulty. "Are you the Marines he mentioned before?" She asked.

"Yeah. I guess we didn't make it in time. Those damn dinosaurs kept slowing us down." He replied, glaring at the ground. He glanced at the gate of the village and saw the researcher vehicles leaving for the beach. "We might still be able make it to the beach and board the Ingen transport ship before it leaves. We'll have to stow away, though. We have to get moving." The sergeant major said, then motioned for them to follow. Cynthia stayed to watch the helicopter take off, then she ran after the marines with the pack and Tim in close pursuit. Flare had also noticed the vehicles and signalled for her raptors to follow. They took off faster than the humans could keep up.

As Flare and the rest of the Leaf Pack ran through the woods to the beach, she stopped when they came upon a small group of raptors. The new raptors immediately tensed up at their arrival, both sides posturing. Razor then realized who they were.

"Are you Alpha: Flare of the Leaf Pack?" he asked, hope in his voice.

Flare paused for a moment in confusion. "Yes, I am. What of it?" She asked with hostility.

"Alpha: Shadow said that your pack would be willing to accept us just before he left. I'm Razor, former Beta of the late Grass Pack." Razor explained. Flare's head tilted slightly in confusion.

"'Late?' What has happened to the Grass Pack?" Flare asked.

"The Grass pack no longer exists. It was destroyed when it's Alpha led a foolish attack on the humans, which ended with Alpha: Shadow's capture. Alpha: Shadow was able to convince us that an attack on the humans would be suicide, so we defected from the Grass Pack just before their demise." Ivy spoke up this time. She hid her sadness over her mate's death well.

Flare weighed her options carefully, before she saw that this would only help her pack. "You are welcome to join the Leaf Pack should you so desire, but I am currently very busy trying to save Alpha: Shadow from those humans. If any of you are willing to come with me to rescue him, by all means, speak up now." Flare urged. Former Upsilon: Striker, the large red with black stripes Utah raptor spoke up, almost angrily.

"The place those humans are taking Shadow is no place for a raptor! We belong here. If we go to the Human World, we will surely die. You all saw how deadly humans can be when they have those weapons. We wouldn't stand a chance of rescuing him and comming back alive." He said urgently.

"He would do the same for us if we were in his position! It's the least we could do to repay him for what he's done for us! We can't just stand by and do nothing while he is killed!" Flare roared back.

"No! He's right. Shadow made his choice. We don't have to die! He did what he did so that we could live! If we go to the Human World and waste our lives trying to save him, his sacrifice will have been in vain!" Typhoon barked.

"How could you say that, Father, after everything he did! It is our own choice what we do with our lives, because Shadow gave us that choice. Should we wish to repay him for giving us that choice is up to each individual." Razor said loudly, before he turned to Flare. "I will go with you, Alpha: Flare." He said with a reassuring nod. Flare smiled thankfully.

"Thank you, Razor." She then addressed the rest of the raptors. "If you wish to come, speak now, because our time is short. Even now, as we speak, the humans are escaping! There will be no guilt if you do not wish to come, but please live well in our stead should we not return. I have to save him." She said, before she then sprinted off into the foliage toward the beach, Razor in close pursuit. Beta: Wind was the only one to follow after glancing at them all for what may have been the last time.

Flare didn't hold it against them for not leaving with her, as leaving everything you've ever known to face almost certain death in an unknown world was a daunting request. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was scared to death too, but she had to help Shadow no matter what.

Captain Jacob Pierce carefully manuevered the Pierce Barracuda PT boat behind a large reef rock jutting up from the waves of the ocean. His maps called it the Ancient Rock, which was just south of the shores of Isla Sorna. About a mile away, he and his team of pirates watched as a helicopter took off from the InGen transport ship, then begin moving toward the shore, probably to pick up it's ground team.

Capt. Pierce lowered his binoculars with a sigh. "Well, it looks like they're packing up and getting ready to leave. I guess we didn't quite make it in time. We'll move in for a closer look after they leave, to see if they left anything worth salvaging." he said, moving back down to the cockpit. Kira huffed in annoyance.

"Damnit! We came all this way, just to settle for junk. I think we should just raid their ship and kill'em all for the trouble they put us through." She shouted, throwing her hands up in defeat. She stomped her way back down below.

"That wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. They just got off an island where they had to fight loads of prehistoric mosters. They'd probably just see us as a nice change a' pace." Jacob replied, shaking his head.

Kira just sneered with a cocky smile. "Hell, I'm atleast twenty times more dangerous than those theme park screw-ups. Those bastards wouldn't stand a chance against me." She chuckled, running her thumb across her nose pridefully.

Jacob and his brother, Kyle shook their heads with a laugh. "Oh yeah, I'm sure those mercs would find a giant monster with teeth alot less scary than a crazy pirate girl with auto-pistols." Kyle joked.

"Tactics for the win, man! Make'em think I'm just a harmless little girl, then before they know what hit'em, they're all dead! I didn't say I was scary, just more dangerous." She replied, making a good counter point. She smirked at Kyle's deadpanned expression. He knew she had him there.

"She's got a good point, Kyle. But still, it's not worth the risk, especially when we don't know how many mercs are on the transport ship. I'm not willing to risk our lives just for a little chump change." Jacob replied wisely. He noticed the helicopter flying off to the north, most likely bound for the U.S.

The InGen transport had just landed on shore when a large number of InGen vehicles exited the woods and began driving up onto the deck of the ship. It wasn't long before the ship was headed out, still completely oblivious to their presence. After about an hour or so, Jacob pushed the throttle and began his approach to the beaches of the fabled Lost World.

Cynthia collapsed to her knees in tears as the Ingen transport sailed away. They hadn't made it in time, now there was no way off the island. Peterson and his marines cursed under their breaths, most in English, some in Spanish, but all of them just as pissed off. Tim simply stared silently at the shrinking form of their last hope, no visible expression on his face.

After a while of them just standing there trying to figure out what to do, Cynthia barely heard some sort of splashing noise in the distance. She looked up, wondering what that noise was. Almost immediately, she saw what was making the noise.

A fast-moving boat was headed straight for them about half a mile out. "Tim! Look! There's a boat comming this way!" She shouted, hope in her voice. Tim looked shocked at the sight of another boat. Sergeant Major Peterson instantly looked alert.

"Ramirez, get a signal flare in the air. We need to let them know we're here." He ordered

"Yes sir!" He said quickly, then pulled a flare gun from his pack and fired it off into the sky.

"We've got a signal flare, Captain. My god, there are still people on that island!" Richard Locklan, the group's navagator and computer whiz said incredulously. Jacob nodded, having seen the figures on the beach just before the flare had been fired.

"Well, well, well. We might have something a little better than a salvage operation waiting for us." He said with a smile. The Barracuda slowed down as they approached the beach, then Jacob killed the throttle, allowing the long PT boat to slowly coast onto the land. "Alright, everyone off the boat. Let's see if these guys are willing to pay for a ride off this hell hole." They all exited the craft and walked onto the shore, scanning the faces of the people left behind by InGen.

Kira spoke first. "So, those InGen bastards decided to leave you behind, huh? Well, this just might be your lucky day." She said with a large smile.

"Thank you so much for stopping! I thought we were going to be stranded here. A friend of ours was captured and brought back to the mainland. We have to get to San Diego before they do anything to him." Cynthia said with relief as she explained the situation.

"San Diego, California, huh? Well, that'll cost ya. How much are you people willing pay to get off this island and back to civilization?" Jacob asked in a harsh tone. Everyone looked shocked that he was asking for money to rescue them. "Oh please! Don't look so surprised. We're pirates. We have to make a living somehow. Hey, I'll make you a deal: one rifle per person. That should cover the cost nicely." He said with a smile. Corporal Brennek instantly pointed his sniper rifle at the man's head.

"How about a bullet in each of your heads if you don't take us right now?" He said in an angry voice.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." A voice said from beside him. He glanced over to the see the barrel of a G18 auto-pistol pointed at his left temple, held in the hands of the girl from before. Her other pistol was pointed at the Sergeant Major. 'I didn't even see her move...!' He thought in shock. The other marines instantly had all of their weapons pointed at each of the pirates, while Cynthia and Tim ducked to their knees. "Put the gun away..." She said in a threatening voice. Suddenly her serious face broke into an almost creepy, but large grin. "We may be pirates, but we can still be civil. Lets talk about this before this becomes a bloodbath, alright?" She said in a sickly-sweet voice.

"Brennek, just put the gun down... We'll talk about this..." Peterson said, still shocked by how fast the girl had moved.

"Fine..." He said, sighing in defeat. He lowered his gun while glaring at the pirates.

"One rifle a person, right? Eight rifles total then." Peterson asked, sounding calm.

Jacob simply nodded with a smile. "That's right. Eight rifles and each of you get off this island and back to the U.S. A rather cheep price if you ask me, since it's pretty much suicide for us to enter U.S. waters. You know how it is, pirates aren't really welcome there." he said with a shrug.

"Alright, deal!" Peterson agreed. He turned to his marines. "We have to head back to the worker village to pick up some weapons, boys. Brennek, Ramirez, stay here and guard the civilians. Let's move!" He said, then the squad took off into the woods.

Kira turned to Cynthia and helped her stand after she put her pistols away. "So, tell me about your friend. What makes you want to risk so much to save him from InGen?" Kira asked.

Cynthia thought for a moment, before she answered. "Well, his name is Joseph Gallant. He just recently graduated from high school and was approached to work as a researcher for InGen. He gave the okay, so he was brought to the InGen headquarters to start his training. He was going to work with me on the raptor project, where he would be injected with syrum to allow a person to turn into a raptor and learn about the pack structure and culture, and then relay the information back to me. Joseph was the perfect candidate, but I didn't realize that the head scientist in charge of the creation of the syrum actually never intended for it to be used for research. He had Joseph sent here for some reason..." She finished, looking thoughtful. Brennek spoke up, knowing the whole truth.

"Actually, the syrum was created for the military as an experimental biological supersoldier syrum. The research story was just a cover-up. Joseph was used to test the syrum's capabilities." Brennek corrected.

"What...?" Cynthia whispered with a surprised expression. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"...that's messed up..." Kira said under her breath.

"Yeah. Our squad was sent to test his abilities, then bring him back for a debriefing. Afterward, I'm pretty sure the general would have inlisted him in the Special Forces." Brennek stated. Cynthia was still frozen in shock, no words able to express her thoughts, when Kira spoke up.

"So... you're saying that this kid was tricked into becomming a military experiment...?" Kira asked incredulously. "What went wrong?"

"The head scientist, Dr. James Hopkins, killed the general in charge of the operation. The reason we need to get back is because I believe that Hopkins will try to pin the murder on Joseph somehow." Brennek explained.

"The restraining syrum! That's what he's going to use!" Cynthia shouted, comming out of her shocked daze.

"Restraining syrum? What's that?" Brennek asked.

"The restraining syrum stops the ability to change back and forth between human and raptor forms! That's how he's going to pin Joseph with the murder!" Cynthia said, worried. Brennek had a look of realization, while Kira still looked a little confused.

"How could he pin the murder on Joseph with that?" Kira asked.

"If they use it on him while he's in raptor form, he will be stuck in that form, unable to properly communicate with humans. Hopkins could have fed the general's body to the raptors InGen has on site at the headquarters, then he could blame the murder on Joseph by saying that he escaped somehow. Joseph wouldn't be able to tell anyone otherwise." Cynthia said, growing more distressed with each word.

"But wouldn't that just make InGen liable for the general's death? InGen could be sued for that..." Kira added, not understanding this Hopkins character.

"Yes, it would make InGen liable, but it's better than the death sentence. Hopkins goes unpunished, while the rest of InGen suffers and Joseph is terminated. The thing is; InGen has plenty of money, so even if they got sued for billions of dollars, it wouldn't hurt them much. The only ones who are truely hurt here are Joseph and the general's family. There is only one flaw to his perfect plan though. He didn't take into account that witnesses would survive the island and a group of pirates would help them. We are the only chance Joseph has left." Brennek finished for Cynthia, as she was starting to cry again.

"But what does Hopkins stand to gain from this? InGen loses money, and the supersoldier syrum is canceled. Did he have some sort of grudge against Joseph?" Kira asked.

"No. I believe he still plans to sell the syrum to the military. Joseph was probably a pre-test, to make sure the syrum actually worked before they began official human trials. It would save time in the long run. Cynthia, you said so yourself that Joseph didn't have any family besides his father, right?" Brennek asked.

"Y-yeah." She answered, realizing that Hopkins might have had Joseph's father killed.

"It wouldn't be hard for InGen to get rid of him. Joseph was alone from the beginning, and he's alone now. Unless we do something to rescue him, he will die alone." Brennek said gravely. Kira's expression didn't show any outward emotion, but anyone who knew her could tell she was on fire inside. She wanted to help Joseph and kill anyone who stood in her way. Because of her past, she felt a connection to anyone who was alone, as she had been alone for most of her life. Cynthia didn't realize it, but she had another ally willing to help. Kira kept quiet, thinking about what she would do as she reboarded the Barracuda and went to her quarters. She needed time to herself.

As everyone waited on the beach for the Marines to come back, Cynthia briefly wondered what had happened to Flare and the other raptors.

Flare, Razor, and Wind shifted uncomfortably, hiding under a research bus, wondering how long they would have to stay like this. The humans walking around the vehicles didn't help calm them down at all. They had barely made it into the ship before the hatch closed. Razor still had his tail curled up around him from it having almost caught in the hatch. He shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to his precious tail.

Eventually, all the humans had gone below deck and into their living quarters, leaving the three raptors an opportunity to scope out the ship. Cautiously, Razor crawled out from under the bus and looked around, seeing the coast was clear. It seemed the main deck was only the place where they kept their vehicles.

Sniffing the immediate area, Razor didn't sense anyone nearby, but he couldn't be sure. Their scent was everywhere. Cautiously walking down a small hallway created by two buses side-by-side, he motioned for Flare and Wind to follow. They would need a more perminant place to hide, as when they would unload the vehicles, they would be trapped. But this hiding place also needed to have a good view, as they had to know when the coast was clear to escape.

Scanning the back wall on which the cabin door was located, he spied a large duct with a metal cover on it. He knew it would be a tight squeeze, but they could hide in that duct. Being as quiet as possible, he smashed the metal cover off the duct with his tail, as it was about eight feet off the ground. After tossing the scrap metal over the side of the ship, he motioned for Flare and Wind to get inside. They jumped and slid in with almost snake-like grace, before he followed soon after.

After following the duct a short way, they entered a rather noisy room with several large machines inside. It was the engine room. The duct was sort of a backup air flow duct, just incase the cooling system failed. Jumping back into the duct, he crawled back to the beginning where he could watch straight ahead. Flare and Wind stayed just behind him. They stayed like that, and planned to stay like that until they made it to where Shadow was.

Soon, Peterson and his Marines came back with eight rifles to trade for safe passage to San Diego, and they were on their way. Brennek went below deck and sat in the passenger compartment next to Sergeant Daren, who was holding a rather familiar Desert Eagle in his hands. "Hey, Sergeant, isn't that Joseph's sidearm?"

"Yeah, it is. He liked this pistol alot. I intend to give it back to him when we free him." He said as he cleaned the weapon. Brennek nodded with a smile. He breifly noted that the scary pirate girl walked by and sat next to Cynthia.

"So," Kira began in a hushed voice. "Do you think we will make it in time?" She asked in a genuinely.

"By God's grace I hope so." Cynthia replied, her head in her hands. Kira raised an eyebrow at that. She shook her head, expelling the thought.

"What if I were to say that I could be there by tonight, would you be willing to go with me?" Kira asked quietly.

"Yes, but how?" Cynthia replied with wide eyes.

"I'm a pilot, and we just so happened to have a small helicopter in the cargo hold. We'll have to leave secretly, but we could do it." Kira said with a hint of mischeif in her violet eyes.

"Alright, let's do it." Cynthia said with a determined expression. Kira smiled widely, then motioned for her to follow. Tim watched the two leave with a questioning look.

In the cargo hold, Cynthia watched as Kira began unlatching the small helicopter known as the Pierce Dragonfly. It wasn't so small that only one person could fit inside, but only had two seats in the cockpit. Along the landing rods, a bench seat was mounted above them, allowing for more people to be able to ride, but with some risk. Cynthia didn't plan on riding those any time soon.

"H-hey, don't we have to stop the boat before we take off?" Cynthia asked nervously. Kira glanced back at Cynthia as she continued to get the Dragonfly ready with a calculating look, then she grinned manically.

"Generally yes, but it can technically be done while the boat is still moving. I just so happen to know how." She said, smiling in a sadistic manner. "If I mess up though... well, our little rescue mission would have ended before it could even begin." She added, enjoying the horrified expression on Cynthia's face. She shook her head, unlatching the last brace, freeing the aircraft. "You scared of flying?" Kira asked with a smirk.

"No, I'm just scared of hitting the ground at high speed." Cynthia said with a look of fear as the chopper shifted slightly due to the waves.

"Eh, don't worry about that. If it does happen, it's over before you know it. You won't feel a thing." Kira laughed as she boarded the chopper and started her preflight.

"It's the horror before I hit that scares me." Cynthia mumbled as she sat in the copilot's seat next to Kira.

Kira soon finished her preflight, then she flipped a switch, causing the hatch above them to begin openning slowly. "If we're lucky, the captain won't realize what we're doing till we've already lifted off."

Soon the hatch was completely open, then the floor the chopper was on began to rise. "No, if we're lucky, we'll survive the take-off." Cynthia retorted. Kira only seemed to smile wider at that.

"Good point." Kira said, only goading her on. Cynthia didn't seem to find it funny at all, but kept her mouth shut until the craft was above deck. Kira looked back at the cockpit window to see Captain Pierce in the diver's seat, not paying attention to where the boat was going. He didn't need to, as he had a long way to go. He simply had the boat on cruise control.

That's what she was counting on. Smiling victoriously, she started the engines. Soon, the blades reached maximum RPMs, so she turned to Cynthia. "Hang on, ace! This is where it get's fun!" Quickly maxing out the pitch on the blades, she jammed the joystick forward, causing the helicopter to pitch forward and lift off slightly from the deck.

Cynthia stared in horror as the boat was going a little faster than the chopper, and the cockpit window was getting dangerously close to the tail of the aircraft. Kira was consentrating, chanting a quiet "Come on."

Cynthia would have been amused by Captain Pierce's horrified and shocked expression if she hadn't been so scared herself. Jacob recoiled in his seat when he caught sight of the spinning tail-rotor only a few inches from the glass. Cynthia sighed in relief as the chopper matched the boat's velocity, then began pulling away. The chopper was finally safe and lifting off.

Kira laughed, sounding more relieved than mischievious as she had hoped. She was just as psyched that it had worked as Cynthia was, if not more-so.

Cynthia suddenly felt something poke her right shoulder, like someone trying to get her attention. She quickly looked over and saw Tim sitting on the strut-bench outside the helicopter, hanging on for dear life.

"TIM? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" She shouted in shock over the wind noise.

"I'm comming with you! You and I both know you wouldn't last long without me!" He shouted back. Cynthia gave him a calculating look, before she smiled and nodded thankfully.

"Thanks, Tim!" She shouted, grabbing his hand, both to show that she was glad he came, and to make her feel like he wouldn't fall off the bench. He simply smiled back, before he sat back as comfortably as he could. It would be awhile until they made it to San Diego.

Shadow slowly came to, groaning because of a massive headache. He openned his eyes and whinced at the bright lights, before his vision adjusted and he realized he couldn't move. He was in a form-fitting cage, held down on his stomach by metal bars that kept him from moving at all. He couldn't even open his mouth. Growling angrily, he struggled against the cage, trying and failing to bend them. He just couldn't get the leverage to move at all.

The bars, though they sounded as though they were bending, didn't budge. Flexing every muscle, he tried to flail about violently, but only succeded in making the areas that touched the bars sore. He finally gave up once he had started bleeding.

Finally having calmed down enough to take in his surroundings, he noticed he was in some sort of lab. Machines and other scientific equipment surrounded him, making him feel very uncomfortable. He was on a large, metal table off to one side of the room, the entrance on the far side in the corner of the room. It looked to be some sort of blast door.

Several feet to his left, a row of specimen containers lined the wall, all of them with either dead or unconscious Compsognathus' inside, floating in the liquid. To his far right, he saw another blast door that apparently led to the holding pins for other dinosaurs.

Suddenly, the blast door on the other side of the lab openned, and in walked Dr. Hopkins himself, accompanied by a military officer. Shadow growled angrily.

"This is the creature, General Slone. He is incredibly smart and has unmatched hostility compared to the others. That is why we've had to keep him caged like this. He has figured out how to escape the regular cages." Hopkins explained. The General glared at Shadow.

"This cage is secure, correct?" Slone asked, turning to Hopkins.

"Absolutely. It is made of Tungsten Carbide. It's even stronger than Titanium." Hopkins confirmed. General Slone approached the cage.

"I will be back tomorrow to see to it's termination. As this animal was created by InGen, this incident will be treated like a factory accident." The general said, glaring at Shadow. "InGen will be sued, and the faulty equipment, in this case, the dinosaur... responsible for the general's death will be decommissioned and destroyed, as per protocol." Slone explained coldly. Shadow's eyes widened in realization.

"Understood, general."

"Now I understand that you have finally began human trials for the supersoldier syrum. I'd like to see your progress so far and meet your first test volunteer."

"Of course. My assistant will show you to the test lab. I will be with you shortly." Hopkins said, motioning for the general to follow a scientist out of the room.

"Right this way, general." The scientist said. They left the room soon after. Hopkins turned back to Shadow and smiled evilly.

"So... you're finally awake." Hopkins said with a smile, glaring down into Shadow's eyes. Shadow growled threateningly. "I'm pleasantly surprised you survived that island. Too bad I can't say the same for your friend, Cynthia. She became too much of a problem and had to be terminated. You, however, will be joining her in the afterlife tomorrow. Tell her 'hi' for me when you see her in hell." He said, before laughing evilling in triumph. Shadow could only let out a muffled growl, his struggle against the bars renewed, dispite his wounds. Hopkins was surprised to hear the bars strain under the pressure. "You are alot stronger than I had thought. Nevertheless, you won't be able to break these. See you tomorrow." He said with a chuckle, walking out of the room.

Shadow gave up his struggle and went limp in his restraints, praying that God would somehow deliver him in his time of need.

AN:

Ah, finally! Got it out. Sorry that it isn't quite as long as I had hoped, but major writer's block has been a haunting thing lately. Every time I would sit down to write, my mind would just go blank. That conversation between Kira, Cynthia, and Brennek was hard. Trying to fabricate all this crap from nothing is... retarded hard... for me anyway. I'm still not completely satisfied with how it turned out, but it serves it's purpose. Again, I won't give up on this story. I know where I want this to go, but getting there is the hardest part.

Anyway, it's going good so far. Just slow... (cryingface)

I really want to spend more time writing, but trying to find a job in today's economy is taking up most of my time. Can't believe I'm already twenty... Where has my life gone!/1?/eleven+1?/1?lol?/! (Fails at life...)

Also, on another note, the reason I included the Christian element is because it adds an interesting angle to the story and the characters that I personally like. There is this stigma surrounding Christians that they are all Bible-thumpers, judgmental bastards with a higher-than-thou attitude. I won't say that there aren't some people like that, as I know a few, but those people have some issues that they need to talk to God about, or simply be honest with themselves and become a Christian in the first place. Then there is the other end of the scale; they are portrayed in media as crazy fanaticals that belong in insane asylums because they're always shouting about the doom of the world. Though I agree that this world is going down the drain fast, I don't make myself look like an insane idiot shouting at everyone on the street corner. It doesn't help anyone when I'm only hurting the image of Christians.

To the point; Christians can be awesome too, they just go about it differently. Read the Bible (best book ever written), and go to church. Ask the preacher after the lesson about Jesus and how awesome He is, and if he/she is in-line with God's Word, he/she will freely tell you the truth about the greatest Man to ever live. Jesus is One Tough Guy, not some wussy like He is portrayed in the media. Christians are epic in more subtle ways, which is what I am trying to portray in this story. Christians are constantly trying to line their lives up with God's Word, and balance that with trying to tell everyone about God and the great things He is doing in their lives. It's actually pretty complicated when their own flesh is constantly resisting them, and Satan is constantly trying to tempt them into doing wrong. Christians are warriors, plain and simple. They don't fight enemies of flesh and blood though, they fight demons: a far more daunting enemy. Their best and only defense is the Almighty God, Jehovah Jirah, and the best thing about it is that He loves everyone unconditionally, even when they screw up royally. No matter what someone has done, God loves them to no end.

Alright, explainaton over.

Now to the corny pep-talk for the next chapter!

OH NO! How will Shadow escape this one! Who are these pirate characters, and why does this 'Kira' girl want to help? Can she be trusted? Will Captain Pierce and his gang live up to their reputation as pirates and cheat the soldiers and Cynthia out of their lives, or will they continue to co-operate? Will Flare, Razor, and Wind be able to survive the boat ride and help Shadow? Will General Slone find out the truth?

...

Who knows...

Again, special thanks to my best friend the JF for assisting me in some of my darker times while writing this story.

Peace Out

Silver Ryuu


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